Pulling Down Heaven

What did proctor do now

Proctor slept uneasily that night, and went to school the next day with bags under his eyes and one shoelace undone, half an hour late. He dragged himself into the form room and slumped over a desk just in time to answer yes to his name, and didn't bother to look up for most of registration. He was so tired and stressed that he didn't even notice the fact that the whole class was staring at him. Throughout first period he remained oblivious to the whispers that followed him, and the disbelieving stares. He barely questioned the strange behavior of his peers, and indeed, the whole school, until he was cornered by Elizabeth at break.

"What the hell were you thinking?" It was less of a question and more of a hissed statement.

"What?" He looked up at her sluggishly, trying to remember if he might have forgotten a test or accidentally ignored one of her text messages.

"Oh you know what I'm talking about," she grabbed his arm and pulled him down the corridor to an empty classroom, which she dragged him into before slamming the door. "I'm talking about the same thing the whole school is talking about- you and Abigail Williams,"

"Lizzie, I haven't talked to her in over a week," he was beginning to get worried now- Elizabeth could be frustratingly self righteous sometimes, but she didn't often get truly angry.

"Oh just shut up- I can't understand you," she spat out her words with a vengeful disgust, "you and I both know what happened- and so does the whole town. You decided for some god forsaken reason to make out with Abigail Williams- again- and if any of the frankly obscene rumors circulating about the 2 of you have any truth, which I suspect they do, you got a whole lot more intimate. So, what the hell were you thinking?"

The story sank slowly into Proctors brain as he struggled to comprehend what she was saying. "You don't actually believe this right? She's lying Lizzie, you know I wouldn't-"

"You can't fool me with this again. When we were dating, and you decided to kiss her the first time- which I forgave you for, I might add- you told me it was all a lie and I stood up for you. You made me look like a complete idiot but I stuck by you all the same. Why should I believe you now?"

Proctor couldn't believe everything had unraveled so fast- he knew he had no way of convincing Elizabeth but he couldn't bear to let her believe Abby's lies. "Elizabeth, please, it didn't happen. You have to believe me," he tried to make eye contact with her as he spoke, hoping some shred of truth might get through to her. Instead she turned away and sighed heavily.

"I think Hale ought to know, John." She spoke slowly, like he was a deceiving child, "He deserves to know."

"Look, Lizzie, I'll talk to Abby, and get her to admit it was a lie- I'll sort this out-"

"And if you're not brave enough to tell him; I will." She left the classroom without looking back, and the door swung closed behind her with a creak that ended in a deafening silence.

Hale was in his room doing homework when a text arrived from an unknown number. He would never admit it to his mother, but he hated the hours when she was working and he was all alone in the house. The eerie silence scared him a little, and the house always seemed colder when no one else was there. The bright light of his phone screen distracted him from his books, and he picked it up to read the message.

Hi, I'm John Proctor's friend Elizabeth

He smiled when he realized it was a friend of Proctors- he hadn't heard from him since the incident with Danforth, and he couldn't help starting to worry.

Is he ok? I haven't heard from him for a while

He typed out the message and then put his phone down again, but it pinged at him almost immediately.

There's something you need to know.

Hale wasn't an expert in texting etiquette, but the full stop seemed ominous for what he had thought was a light hearted conversation, so he replied,

What is it?

Again, a very quick response came from Elizabeth.

I dated John a while back, and, during that time

Elizabeth hesitated for a second before typing the rest

well, he cheated on me with another girl

Hale looked at the text, confused.

I'm sorry- I didn't think Proctor was that kind of guy

She sent back 2 texts in quick succession.

Neither did I

But he's done it again

There was a small pause as Hale froze, and then a third text.

I'm so sorry he's done this to you, you seem like a really nice guy, but he was with the same girl he cheated on me with- on Friday evening

Around 5 minutes later another text came through from Elizabeth that just said,

I'm sorry

But Hale didn't see it. For once he was glad that he was home alone: no one could hear him as he sobbed.