Proof

**"Proof**" is the eighth episode of Season 1 of *Cruel Summer*. It will air on June 1, 2021.

## Synopsis

On the first day of school, everyone learns that the drama of the summer is anything but over and that some people will pay more for the consequences of Jeanette and Kate’s deception than others.

## Plot

The events that are about to unfold take place on approximately August 30th, 1993, 1994, and 1995.

1994. Greg confronts Jeanette about the key and she insists that she only used it once. He is having trouble trusting her word. She promises they used it once for a list item last Summer. He presses that she could have been fired for her theft, to which apologizes, but insists that she never went back to the house. If the police found out about this from Mallory or Vince it could have serious implications, so he makes her tell them after school tomorrow.

1993. Jeanette wonders if anyone will notice that she has her braces off, and Cindy remarks that they will. Cindy sets the table and shouts for Derek to hurry up.

1995. Jeanette presents the chat room log between Kate and Ashley to Denise. She explains that it shows that Kate went to Martin’s house willingly. Denies agrees that it demonstrates Kate bent the truth. Jeanette knows she won’t contribute to a narrative that paints her as anything less than the truth when in reality, Kate is a huge liar and now they have proof.

1994. Jeanette gets ready to go to school while Vince takes photos of her. She tells him to stop as she doesn’t like the candid photos, but he’s planning to document their high school years. She doesn’t want to remember the Kate rumors or her mom leaving. He assures her that the rumors will blow over soon. She asks how he feels about being in a relationship, yet not, with Ben today. He admits it will be weird but points out she’s stalling. He can’t believe her mom didn’t take the mini-van.

Ben and Jamie walk the halls of Skylin High as they greet their peers. Tennille remarks to Renee that Ben might score on and off the football field. They share a smile that is secretly directed at Vince. Jamie notes that Ben is loving the attention from the girls. Renee points out Jeanette’s new look, noting that she rolled in from Loser Island or Juvie. Vince encourages Jeanette to push on.

1993. Jeanette is dropped off at school by her mother. She eagerly greets Mallory and Vincent, and while he compliments her lack of braces, Mallory is disgusted that Jeanette is still carrying around Kate’s scrunchie. She points out that Jeanette wore it to the movies, the mall, and now to school as if they would ever interact with Kate. The girls start to argue when Vince interferes and puts an end to it. The trio faces the entrance of the school. Martin Harris greets the students and invites them inside.

1995. Jeanette opens a necklace from Cindy, who picked it up in Paris. Jeanette is angry that she was left behind while Cindy was in Paris. Cindy wants them to travel together, but Jeanette has plans to enroll for her GED. Cindy wonders how she dropped out of school, to which Jeanette snaps back that Cindy missed a lot while she was gone. She was mad when Cindy forced visitation, packed a bag to see Aunt Susan, and Cindy asks if Jeanette hates her but she doesn’t. Cindy tells her to think about the lawsuit because when she looks back she might not feel great about suing a kidnapping victim. Jeanette can’t believe Cindy is on the Wallis’s side, but Cindy presses that it’s a lose-lose situation. Jeanette cuts her off when she starts to talk about Greg, pointing out that he might not be perfect but he stayed. She storms out of the café.

Angela walks to the bar where she declines a job to Jamie since it’s a liability to have someone with a record work for a place that handles cash and alcohol. He thanks her anyway.

1994. At lunch, Renee and Tennille are thrilled about the Marsha Bailey show, while Jamie isn’t that excited. Renee thinks he’s jealous Kate won’t be talking about him. Tennille asks Ben out on a date, but he reluctantly says he has to focus on training but apologizes. Renee quips that it’s his loss. Jeanette passes the table while Tennille shouts at her in the question of what she’s looking at, calling her a creep.

1995. Jeanette leaves the café when a photographer begins to ambush her. Jamie shouts after her and hurries up to her, asking if she can talk. She can’t stay as the reporters will swarm her. He invites her to his garage later to talk, but she has to go.

1993. Jeanette, Mallory, and Vince leave the school where Mallory gives them a “prank tape” which is the final list item. Jeanette is confused; they're still doing that, while Mallory thinks it will be hilarious. Jeanette notes that Summer is over now but Mallory presses that it isn’t over until the list is complete. Jeanette watches Jamie, Renee, Ben, and Tennille who are sitting at a table having lunch. He asks the girls if they have seen Kate today, but they haven’t. The girls come up with excuses but Jamie just hopes she isn’t mad at him for making her late for her birthday party. He gets up to leave at the same time Jeanette stands, and he smiles calling her jailbird.

1994. Jeanette storms out of the school as Vince tells her to stop as she shouldn’t give everyone the satisfaction of letting them get to her. She knows he doesn’t want to get involved since everything with Ben might come out if the rumor mill keeps spinning. He tells Jeanette he’ll call but she tells him that he shouldn’t. Vince turns and sees Jamie watching them, so he confronts Jamie. He might not be cool and athletic like his friends but he knows what creeping is. Jamie is just checking on her, but Vince presses that he forfeited that right when he dropped her. He knows Jeanette has been tortured at school all day, but Vince snaps back that Jamie made it that way when he gave Jeanette a black eye. This quiets Jamie and Vince tells him that feeling is guilt, which is his problem, not Jeanette’s. He warns Jamie to leave Jeanette alone and walks away.

1995. Jamie listens to a recording while in his car as he takes out a flask to drink.

1993. Mallory brags about getting Mr. Harris with the sprinkler system. Jeanette arrives late, much to Mallory’s annoyance, and they exchange sharp retorts. They plan to break into the AV room and broadcast the tape during class, with Mallory thinking her plan is foolproof. Jeanette questions her leadership but everyone brushes it off. Vince and Jeanette stand guard while Mallory sets up the video. Vince and Ben meet up in the hall and exchange hellos. Ben awkwardly leaves and Vince suddenly blurts out that Ben’s mother died, as Vince’s mother died three years ago, so they have that in common. Vince never met someone else whose mother died and they should talk about it sometime, and Ben thinks now is a great time. Vince looks around then joins Ben in the gym.

They talk about the sensitivity of the topic of their mother’s death and how they don’t talk about it. Ben knew his mom was dying of cancer, and every day he’d wake up wondering if that would be the day she’d die. It didn’t come for another year when he was thirteen. Vince is sorry for his loss. Ben asks if his mom was sick, but Vince explains it was a car accident and she was dead hours before he knew. He tries to remember those hours that she was gone but he didn’t know his world was upside down. Ben asks if Vince remembers the last thing he said to her, which was his request for string cheese. Vince returns the question, and Ben did have something he wanted to be brave enough to tell her but didn’t. He told her that he loved her and that was it. As they talk, their pinkies brush up against one another. Vince asks what he chickened out over, and Ben interlocks his pinkie with Vince’s.

1995. Jamie waits in his garage for Jeanette and drinks a beer. She arrives and asks what he wants. She wonders how he could ask her to sit with him when he called her a bitch and punched her. He admits that he will regret what he did every day for the rest of his life. He got caught up in the macho protective thing which was dumb. He apologizes to her. She steps toward him and asks why he did it. He thought that he was defending Kate, as he didn’t have a reason not to believe her. Jeanette points out that he knew her as they were dating. She asks who he believes.

1994. Greg calls Cindy to tell her about the key, admitting that he was wrong. He wants her to come home and angrily hangs up when she refuses. Jeanette eavesdrops and he asks who she even is. She wants to drop out of school but he wants to go to the police station as her actions have consequences.

1993. Mallory prepares the AV room for the prank tape and waits for time to pass. Jeanette keeps a lookout when Joy Wallis walks past, forcing Jeanette to hide. She follows Joy to Martin’s office. Joy storms in to ask Martin if he knows where Kate is.

1995. Greg is reading a magazine when Angela comes in. She tells him that Cindy came to see her. He profusely apologizes and she asks why he hasn’t been honest with her.

1993. Martin and Joy talk in his office, and he guesses that Kate is at lunch. He asks Joy if everything is okay. Joy isn’t sure if Kate showed up for school today and asks if Martin saw her yet. He hasn’t and recommends checking in with the front desk, but she prefers to have things dealt with privately and quietly. With Martin inside the fold, she thought he might be able to help. He makes a call to Kelly Sue and learns that only two people were absent - Evan Lewis and Kate Wallis. He flashes back to Kate at his front door, while Joy admits that she and Rod waited up all night for Kate but she didn’t come back. She thinks Kate is running away to prove a point, something Joy did too as a teen. Martin is sure that she’s safe and pouting at a friend’s house as Joy said. He remembers Kate walking into the house and closing the door. Joy thinks about involving the police, but Martin talks her into waiting as it would be the opposite of private and quiet. He doesn’t want the police to think Joy is negligent. He assures Joy that Kate is a good girl who will come home. Jeanette eavesdrops on the entire conversation.

Joy leaves the office and Jeanette turns away so she can’t see her. She follows Joy and stops at the AV room door before going outside to join Joy. She calls after her and introduces herself as one of Kate’s friends, which Joy doesn’t believe. She volunteers to help her if she needs anything, but Joy coldly wonders what she could ever need from Jeanette.

1994. Greg visits Angela in the bar for the third time that week. He assures her that he doesn’t have a drinking problem as he doesn’t go to bars. He just likes the company here. Rod stops at the bar for quarters and the two men exchange a hardened look, though Rod just wants his quarters and leaves. Greg explains to Angela that Rod and Joy spread fake rumors about Greg’s daughter, Jeanette.

1995. Angela tells Greg that he told her that he had no reason to believe Jeanette was involved in what happened to Kate. They begin to argue as he tells her everything upfront, though Angela is hung up on the key. He made her turn it over to the police and they were satisfied, so he doesn’t think Jeanette has anything to do with what happened to Kate. He insists that she can tell him anything, and Angela admits that Cindy told her that she wanted space but he shut down so that’s why their marriage fell apart. Angela doesn’t know if she should be in between two people who should be together. Greg assures her that his marriage to Cindy never felt right, unlike how he feels with Angela. She likes him too and they kiss.

1993. Mallory spins in a chair as she waits for the clock to change. She puts in the VHS and hits play, broadcasting the prank reel. Martin asks what she’s doing here and sees through her lies. She admits that it’s a prank - a video of their favorite teachers doing silly things. He sees himself on the video from his home this morning. He makes her turn it off and gives her detention. She leaves the room and yells at Jeanette and Vince for abandoning her. Jeanette has news about Kate Wallis, but Mallory tells her to shut up about Kate being awful and way out of Jeanette’s league. Jeanette takes offense and Mallory asks what’s so wrong with her league with her and Vince. Vince asks what happened, to which Mallory reveals that Mr. Harris caught her so they have detention. Vince lies that a teacher came so he had to run off. Mallory imposes on Jeanette and asks what her excuse is. Jeanette asks why Mallory abandoned them when they shoplifted, but Mallory thought they were past that. Jeanette can’t get past Malory pushing her around and calling all the shots. She references that Cindy said it was normal for best friends to drift apart. Friends don’t bully one another, as it’s everything Mallory wants so else. She wants to make new friends and make her own choices. Mallory asks if Jeanette doesn’t want to be friends with her and Vince anymore, to which Jeanette states that she never said anything about Vince. Mallory pushes past them and begins to cry once she’s out of their way.

1994. Jamie puts away his flask while Ben gets in and asks for a ride to the field.

1995. Jamie tells Jeanette that he tried to apologize last year. He saw the way people were torturing her at school, so he started driving to Jeanette. Everything just spiraled after that and he ruined Ben’s future.

1994. Ben and Jamie collide with a car and Jamie is arrested for drunk driving, his head bleeding. Ben is taken to the hospital with a severe compound fracture. Vince, Tennille, Renee, and a few others watch. Vince runs up to Ben to ask if he’s okay. He holds Ben’s hand and says he’s coming with him, but Ben notices the crowd staring and doesn’t think he should. He apologizes and the paramedics load him into the ambulance.

1995. Ben is struggling to lift weights, a giant scar on his shoulder. He drops the weight, unable to keep lifting it. He looks over at his football jersey.

Jamie tells Jeanette the other driver was okay, but Ben wasn’t. She thinks that’s just more damage she’s caused, but he takes responsibility for the accident. He wakes up every day and he forgets for a moment that any of it happened. She relates as once she remembers it ruins the rest of her day. She sees the tape recorder.

1993. Jamie walks past Jeanette and comments on her not having braces. It was the best day of his life when his brace came off, as he had headgear and everything. He compliments her smile. She tells Jamie that she overheard Kate is missing as she wasn’t at home or school. She heard Joy report Kate missing to Mr. Harris. Jamie is surprised but Jeanette tells him that she knows they suspect the boyfriends first so she thought she should warn him. He thanks her but hurries off.

1995. A few months after Kate went missing, on Christmas Eve, he got a message on his answering machine that was just a bunch of random sounds. He recorded it in case it was important. The date strikes a chord with her and, despite him saying it’s embarrassing that he even kept it, she insists on hearing it. The sound is breathing with “till death do us part” repeating in the background. Jeanette hurries away and bangs on Mallory’s front door. Mallory asks what she doesn’t have. Jeanette needs the snow globe as it’s important. Mallory calls it a piece of junk that she doesn’t have anymore, nor is she sorry she doesn’t have it. She closes the door on her.

Inside, Mallory pulls a box out from under her bed and removes a snow globe. A matching one remains in the box.

1993. Martin returns to his office and plays the prank list video. He watches himself leave the house and rewinds, carefully watching the windows. In the background, in the living room window, Kate can be seen. He ejects the tape and destroys it.

## Cast

### Starring

* Olivia Holt as Kate Wallis
* Chiara Aurelia as Jeanette Turner
* Froy Gutierrez as Jamie Henson
* Harley Quinn Smith as Mallory Higgins
* Allius Barnes as Vince Fuller
* Blake Lee as Martin Harris
* Michael Landes as Greg Turner
* Brooklyn Sudano as Angela Prescott

### Guest Starring

* Sarah Drew as Cindy Turner
* Andrea Anders as Joy Wallis
* Nicole Bilderback as Denise Harper
* Nathaniel Ashton as Ben Hallowell
* Benjamin J. Cain Jr as Rod Wallis

### Co-Starring

* Shelby Surdam as Tennille Peterson
* Aaliyah Muhammad as Renee Talbot
* Kenneisha Thompson as Paramedic
* Nash Bland as Student

## Notes and Trivia

* *Proof* opened with a triggering warning for images of domestic violence.
* Cindy is revealed to have been Greg's high school sweetheart.
* *Proof* shows how Jeanette and Mallory's friendship ended.
* Both Vincent and Ben had lost their mothers, one in a car accident and the other to cancer.
* Cindy's sister Susan is mentioned.
* Jeanette recognizes a sound from Jamie's tape recorder, and asks Mallory for a snowglobe back. Mallory lies that she doesn't have it.

## Gallery

### Videos

Cruel Summer 1x08 Promo "Proof" (HD) Olivia Holt seriesCruel Summer Season 1, Episode 8 - Sneak Peek- The Rumor Mill - FreeformCruel Summer Season 1, Episode 8 - Sneak Peek- Kate is Lying - Freeform