When Finn walked into the house earlier than he was supposed to, Carole knew something was up.
She watches from the kitchen as he tries to quietly go up to his bedroom, dropping his bag off at the foot of the stairs.
Carole sighs as she gears up to call out to him, walking out of the kitchen towards the stairs as she calls out, "Finn?" she sees his back stiffen and she continues, "What are you doing back home so early?"
She watches as Finn slowly turns around to face her, "School let out early, that's all."
She furrows her brow, "Why did that happen?"
He shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know. All I know is that the teachers started tellin' everyone to leave, so I did."
Finn then quickly turns back around and runs up the rest of the way.
Carole stands there for a measure, not entirely sure what to make of her son's explanation before deciding that she could get better answers from the school.
Checking the time on the mantel, she once again shakes her head in disbelief. The phone rings a while before anyone picks up.
"Hello, this is William McKinley High, how may I help you?"
Carole clears her throat, "Yes hello. This is Carole Hudson, my son Finn Hudson goes to the school? He just got home and has told me that school has been let out early? I was wondering as to why that is."
The woman on the line doesn't reply immediately and that alone sets Carole's nerves on edge.
"Mrs. Hudson, uhm your son is correct. School has let out early. The reason for that occurring...well, you see, there's been an accident in the school," Carole holds her breath as the woman continues, "involving a female student. It's pretty serious and so the administration has decided to let everyone go home since there would be zero ability to focus on anything else for the rest of the day."
Carole takes that in, then asks quietly, "Do you know what happened?"
"I'm sorry Mrs. Hudson, I'm not at liberty to say since I don't know."
She hangs up the phone after thanking her, and ends up staring at it. A part of Carole believes in her heart that the person who had this accident was one of the girls involved with her son. She hopes that she's wrong, but her gut is telling her she isn't.
At the same time as she's thinking this, a feeling of dread settles over her because she doesn't think it was really an accident. She shuts her eyes as tears begin to build.
"Where did I go so wrong?" she asks out loud to herself, desperate for guidance.
If Finn had anything to do with this, regardless of who the student is, he's going to be facing the consequences. She will not stand for this. He may be her son, but if he's done wrong, she will make sure he does get punished for this.
She really hopes he doesn't have anything to do with this.
Taking a deep breath, she shakes her head and starts on some laundry before she needs to start thinking about what they can have for dinner. She doesn't want to think about whether her son is involved in this at this moment, because what parent would want to believe their child is capable of such things.
Xoxoxox
Officer Moore rolls back his broad shoulders before he takes the final step towards the Hudson residence. He rings the doorbell, then stands back.
He hears shuffling before the door clicks and is opened.
"Good afternoon Mrs. Hudson."
The color has drained from Carole's face the second she saw Officer Moore before she unlocked the door, "Officer. How can I help you?"
