The drive to Ethan’s school should have taken ten minutes, but it felt like ten hours. When I turned into the school parking lot, my stomach dropped all over again.
A police SUV sat out front. Lights off, but unmistakable. The sight of it made everything real in a way that scared me.
Inside, the front desk secretary gave me a nervous smile.
“They’re waiting for you, Ma’am.”
I steadied myself, took a breath, and pushed open the principal’s office door.
The scene inside made me freeze.
Ethan sat small in a chair against the wall, arms folded tight across his chest, eyes fixed on the floor. He looked so young right then, and so scared.
Across from him stood a uniformed officer, hands clasped behind his back, silent but watching everything.
And beside the principal’s desk stood another boy — clean-cut, wearing an expensive hoodie.
Principal Dawson clasped his hands together on his desk. “Thank you for coming. We need to discuss your son’s involvement in a theft.”
