Kurt burst through the front door of his house. He carefully removed his blue jacket with the red trim, placed it on a coat hanger, and dusted the lint off his shoulders. "Dad! Carol! I'm home!" He shouted. As soon as he had finished the phrase, Blaine stumbled in behind him, dropping his backpack and jacket on the floor next to the door. "Blaine is here, too." Kurt added with a sigh.

The house was eerily silent. Each step the boys took towards the kitchen seemed to echo and reverberate in between the white walls of the hallway. After an eternity, they reached the kitchen.

Burt, Carol, and a woman Kurt had never seen before were sitting at the kitchen table, solemn looks on their faces. "Boys! Do you want a snack? I have some leftover spaghetti from last night I can heat up!" Carol cooed, sounding like she was trying to convince herself to smile. She began fixing the snack while the strange woman shifted uncomfortably in the wicker-seated chair. She had white-blond hair put in a bun at the nape of her neck that seemed to be keeping her head fastened onto her neck. Her face was stoic, a poker face. Around her neck was a silk scarf, meticulously matching the tones in her skirted business suit.

"Kurt, have you met Mrs. Anderson yet?" Burt offered after a few minutes of silence. Kurt offered his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Ma'am. I'm Kurt. I'm one of Blaine's classmates. We're in the Warblers together. He's enabling my coffee addiction in between class and practice." He laughed nervously.

"Nice to meet you, Kurt." Mrs. Anderson replied in an ice-cold voice with a touch of a Southern accent. "Blaine has told me so much about you."

"What are you doing here, Mom?" Blaine finally blurted out, cheeks turning bright red at such a formal introduction. "Is everything all right?"

"We got some bad news today, and Mrs. Anderson, Carol, and I felt like we should tell you boys together." Burt shrugged. "Why don't you two have a seat. It's a doozy." At this point, Carol had re-heated the leftovers and was placing them in front of Blaine and Kurt in brightly-colored ceramic bowls. The steam stung Kurt's eyes, and he blinked back tears.

"Boys, Dalton Academy is closing its doors on Friday." Mrs. Anderson coolly stated. "The President of the school has been funneling school funds to his overseas mistresses, and the school simply has no more money to run." Everyone sat in silence for a minute, the clicking of the kitchen clock the only sound.

"I'm sorry, what?" Blaine was the first to break the silence.

Burt re-stated Mrs. Anderson's words.

"That doesn't make a lick of sense." Kurt responded. "We pay out the ass in tuition. How is the money just gone?"

"Watch your language. We have a guest here." Carol muttered.

"I've got a right to be upset. Where on Earth are we supposed to go?" Kurt could feel the heat rising in his face.

"It's too late in the semester to transfer to another private school." Mrs. Anderson stated. "Blaine and you will be returning to your former school for the remainder of the semester. After that time, we will see about transferring you to a proper academy."

"I'm gong BACK to McKinley?" Kurt shouted.

"Calm down, son. It'll be fine. Blaine is going to be there with you." Burt plainly stated.

"It's NOT going to be okay. Do you remember why I left that hellhole? Do you remember what people did to me at that school?" Kurt stood up, knocking his chair over. In any other situation, he would have picked it up, but he was too angry.

"There is literally nothing we can do." Carol chimed in. "You heard Mrs. Anderson. It's too late in the semester."

"So homeschool me. I'm already ahead in my classes. It'll be easy." Kurt tossed his arms in the air with every sentence.

"You know that's not possible. Carol and I have to keep our jobs. Neither of us even remember 10th grade classes. You'll be fine." Burt tried to calm his son down.

"This is absolutely ridiculous. I can't believe you're just shipping me back there." Kurt shouted. Without hesitation, he stomped off to his room.