I keep seeing people saying this like it's fact, and I'm kinda sick of it, so quick rant: It's pretty damn likely that, in the conversation at the church, Noelle was not saying that her mother was locking her out of their house.
And, no, her saying this in Chapter One wasn't a cover story(???).
So, I have memory issues, right? In middle school, I had a hard time remembering my house key before I'd leave for school. Oftentimes, I would come back to my front door, not feel the stuffed duck keychain in my pocket, and realize that I've accidentally locked myself out again. My dad would usually be at work for another 2-3 hours after the time I'd get home, so that's how long I'd have to wait until I could get into my own home. Couldn't call him to come unlock the door, since I felt bad dragging him out of work over my own dumb mistake, so I'd just sit and sketch in my notebook under our willow tree until he came back. My dad was a single parent, just me and him in the house, so he was the only person who could let me in.
That's what I think is happening with Noelle.
She talks about the event with a more embarrassed tone than anything, and nothing in her tone suggests that it's ongoing act of abuse (trust me, there's a difference between her sheepishly recalling something she now feels silly about, and recalling something that actually affected her.) She's pretty direct when she recalls her more "messed-up" memories, and wouldn't dance around it with white lies the way people argue she is.
Her mother is directly stated to work late, and I'm assuming that a perfectionist mayor would work even later hours than my dad at an auto-quoting firm. With her father practically living at the hospital, and her sister MIA, Carol is probably the only person that could unlock the door for her. Noelle would also probably be too embarassed and anxious to call her busy mother, who has the weight of the town on her shoulders, and has probably been more emotionally fragile with her sick husband and the disappearance of her other daughter.
I would get very impatient while waiting outside my own house for just a couple hours; if I had to wait even later, and I had a friend who was good at infiltration, I'd also enlist their help to get back into my warm, comfy bedroom sooner.
One particular line that's a smoking gun to me is this one:
If her mother was intentionally keeping her locked out, why would Noelle mention her giving a spare key to their family friends, and seem mildly surprised that she hadn't already? "Even then," implies that these incidents would be a precedent, and I think that her daughter habitually forgetting her housekey is a pretty good one. It's even implied soon after that she probably just hasn't done so due to the amount of sensitive information she keeps stored away at the Holiday Manor.
Sorry for the random midnight rant, I just find Noelle's situation relatable here, so I thought I'd share my perspective on it.
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