Chapter 10
September – Age 17 – Junior Year Charlotte age 6.5 months
Finn was officially a Junior at William McKinnley High School. He had a full semester ahead of him. His nine periods were filled.
1. English – Ms. Pennett
2. Algebra – Mrs. Black
3. AP World History – Mr. Key
4. Gym/Health – Coach Beiste, Coach Sylvester
5. Lunch
6. Spanish 3 – Mr. Schuester
7. Physics – Mr. Floyd
8. Pre-Calculus – Ms. Kidd
9. Glee – Mr. Schuester
He was given permission to take two math classes because Dave Karofsky offered to help him if he fell behind. Finn was determined to get all of his work done. He was going to go to college, and take all the classes he could to ensure that.
He woke up early and got himself ready. Once he was done, he got Charlotte's supplies ready before getting her up. He packed her diaper bag and put it next to his brown bag lunch. Carol had a double shift on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so Finn also got the crock pot out of the fridge and set it on low. He would have dinner ready for when she got done at 10:00 that night. Finn puled all over their stuff into the SUV and strapped Charlotte in her seat. He drove over to the church and prepared himself to drop Charlotte off to the daycare for the first time. He knew what needed to happen and he knew the ladies who ran the daycare. He liked them, but it was still nervous.
"Come now Child," Ms. Eldridge chided. "You need to be getting to school."
"I know," Finn sighed. "This is the longest time someone other than Mom's watching her.
"How's about I text you every once in a while?" she offered, rocking Charlotte in her arms.
"Would you really?" Finn inquired, a smile on his face.
"Of course I will," she smiled. "Now you just leave her bag and skedaddle on to school. I'll see you here for work at three."
"Thanks Ms. Eldridge," Finn said gratefully. He left the messenger bag that Dave and Puck had gone in on when Charlotte was born. "See ya at three."
Finn arrived at school early and got a parking spot next to Sue's Le Car. He felt strangely safe parking there. He dropped off his afternoon class supplies off in his locker. He then went to Coach Beiste's office to say a quick hello before class, but she wasn't there. His next stop was Ms. Pillsbury's office.
"Hello there Finn," she greeted cheerfully from her desk.
"Hey Ms. P, how's it going?"
"All prepped and ready for the year. How did it go this morning?"
"I was a nervous wreck," Finn admitted with a chuckle. He sat down in what he considered 'his' chair. "They promised to text me throughout the day."
"I'm glad they are willing to work with you," she replied. "You are a nervous 17 year old. Happy belated Birthday by the way. It was yesterday right?"
"Yeah, I can't believe that I'm here as a 17 year old," Finn said.
"You worked very hard this past year," Ms. Pillsbury praised. "You should be proud of your accomplishments."
"I know, and I am, really," Finn insisted. "Now the real challenge comes. How am I going to balance school, work, and Char?"
"Very carefully," she joked lightly. "You will do the best you can and If you think you have any kind of problem, please know that my door is always open."
"Thanks Ms. P. I'm gonna just start with today and see where that goes."
"I think you're right. Why don't you head to homeroom. I'll see you back here Friday before Glee?"
"Sounds good."
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Finn was having a good morning so far. He thought he left a notebook for his afternoon classes out in his car, so he went out at lunch time to check. When he left the doors to the school, he nearly threw up at what he had seen. His car was trashed. His windshield was smashed, wipers bent out of shape and a busted grill. Finn got his phone out and started taking pictures. There was red graffiti all over the car. They broke the back window and even wrecked the car seat. They slashed the tires. When he finished the photo session, he stormed into principal Figgins' office.
"Someone destroyed my car!" Finn practically yelled at the principal.
"Mr. Hudson, what are you talking about?"
"I took pictures, someone demo'd my car," he shouted again. He then pulled out his phone to show principal Figgins. As they scrolled through the pictures, Figgins' face grew more and more concerned.
"Do you have any idea of who could have done this?" the older man asked.
"No, but I might have a way to find out who it was. Come with me," Finn said. He stormed out of Figgins' office and down the hallway. He walked to Sue's office door and knocked.
"Enter," Sue called out from inside. Finn entered Sue's office, Figgins hot on his heels. "What's the matter Hudson, Figgy giving you a hard time?"
"Do you still have video surveillance of your car?" Finn asked.
"Of course, I don't want any shenanigans with my LeCar," Sue said.
"Someone demo'd my car," Finn said quietly. "My gut told me that I should park next to you this morning."
"Let's go through the footage," Sue said firmly, pulling up the security feed on her computer. "I've had class all morning, so I haven't had a chance to check."
"I need to call Burt, he's gonna kill me," Finn muttered. He dialed Burt as Sue and Figgins reviewed the security footage.
"Hey Finn, how's school?" Burt's cheerful voice said.
"Burt, do you have a tow truck available?" Finn asked.
"What happened? Are you alright? Kurt? Charlotte?"
"We're all fine, I promise," Finn said quickly. "I went out at lunch to get my car and someone demo'd my car. They absolutely wrecked it."
"I'm coming to that school right now," Burt said with a hard voice. "Did you take pictures?"
"Yes sir," Finn replied. "Sue is checking her surveillance now to see who did it."
"Sit tight Finn," Burt replied before hanging up the phone.
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Burt Hummel hung up his phone and went to grab the keys of the tow truck. "Bill! Someone messed up Finn's new car. I'm going out on this one!"
"No problem Burt!" Bill called back. Burt nearly had a heart attack when Finn had called him during the school day. Something had to definitely be wrong.
It didn't take Burt long to get to the school. He drove around to find Finn's car and nearly fell over in his seat when he saw the damage. Burt parked the truck and called Finn back. "Come meet me at the car."
Burt took out a pad of paper and a pen and began to write down the damage and approximations of what they would cost, minus labor. He was about to lose it when he saw the car seat. "Burt!" Finn called out.
"Who the hell did this?" Burt asked.
"We saw it on Sue's video surveillance," Finn explained. "I parked next to her this morning. It was Rick Nelson, that Puck-head."
"Jake's kid?" Burt questioned. Finn nodded. "I want Jake called down here and his kid in the office now!"
"I'll go call his father," Figgins offered quickly as he turned and practically ran back to his office. Burt could be quite an imposing figure when need be.
"I'm going to do this and then there will be no more said about it," Burt said to Sue. He walked over and hugged her. "Thanks for being paranoid about your car."
"Um, no problem," Sue said uncomfortably. The hug broke and they walked in together to the office. "How much damage are we looking at here?"
"Well, a grand for tires, three windows, a windshield, grill, paint, detail, scratch and dent work, not to mention the car seat," Burt went over the list. "We are probably looking around four grand, and that's not including labor costs."
"You better charge top dollar for that," Sue muttered.
"I plan to," Burt agreed.
"I'm going to go get that miscreant," Sue growled. She stalked off to the school. No one in their right mind wouldn't be afraid of Sue Sylvester in a time like this. Once she found his class, she went to collect Shannon Bieste before going to the cafeteria. "Nelson, get up, let's go!" The hockey player froze. He slunk down in his seat, trying not to be seen. "I don't think you heard me," Sue said, walking over to where the red head was seated. She grabbed the jock by the back of his neck and hauled him out of his seat. "I said come on, get up, and let's go!"
While Shannon Bieste was a bit confused as to why she was being brought in on this situation, she followed Sue out on her little 'field trip'. She was pretty sure that she would be finding out soon enough. The three of them went Figgin's office where Finn and Burt were waiting. "Sit down! And I'll give you some free advice," Sue barked. "Shut up!"
"Mr. Nelson will be here in a few minutes," Figgins said. "Then we can discuss how we will proceed with this issue."
"Do you mind if I call my day care?" Finn asked. Figgins nodded, looking confused. Finn dialed. "Hey Ms. Eldridge, it's Finn. How's Charlotte? Well, it turns out that some idiot trashed my car… yeah, that's right… pretty much undriveable… no I'm fine… I was in class when it happened… So I might be a bit late getting to work… I'll make up the time… I'm not sure of my ride yet… I'm glad her first day is going well… I'll talk to you late Ms. E… Bye."
"She happy there?" Burt asked.
"Yeah, they said she's as happy as a clam."
"Good," Burt said. "You can take my truck to work. I'm taking you with me to the garage after this. You might as well go to work early and come back to pick me up. Have you called your mom?"
"No, I was going to wait until this was over," Finn said. "I'll text my friends and let them know what's going on." He sent out a group text to Puck, Kurt, Artie, Mercedes, Tina, Mike, Matt, Karofsky, Santana, and Brittany just briefly explaining what was going on. "Principal Figgins, can you call Ms. Pillsbury down?" The Indian man nodded. Not a minute later she came in and Sue filled her and Shannon in on what had happened.
Shortly after Emma arrived, Jake Nelson came in, looking quite pissed off. "What the hell is going on?"
"Your son was caught destroying another student's car," Figgins started off.
"You caught him doing what?"
"I went out to my car at lunch time and found my car like this," Finn said. He showed Mr. Nelson his pictures. With each passing picture, Jake's face grew more and more angry. There was a final look of disgust when he saw the picture of the destroyed car seat.
"You did this?" Jake asked his son.
"They got nothing on me!" Rick protested.
"We actually have him on video surveillance," Figgins interjected.
"Did you do this?" Jake asked Rick again. Rick was silent. "I see there's my answer. Principal Figgins, what is the harshest punishment that fits this crime?"
"I'm suggesting that he receive two weeks of out of school suspension and probation until at least Christmas break."
"He should pay for the damages to the car," Sue said angrily. "Burt, give your estimate."
"Just going over basics. The damage is around $4000," Burt said. "Not counting labor costs."
"He will pay back every cent," Jake said. "And he'll go out and buy a car seat. Finn, if you would write down the name of the one you had. He will replace it tonight." Finn wrote down the model on a post it and gave it to Mr. Nelson.
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Burt drove back to the shop with Finn in the tow truck. The guys at the shop couldn't believe that kids would do something like this to anyone else's car. Burt got the car up on the lifts and started getting rid of the broken parts. Finn got Burt's personal truck and headed over to the day care. It was almost 2:00 by the time he arrived there and checked in with the ladies. He got a hug from Charlotte and immediately he felt better. She did seem pretty happy with the day care and being away from him for an extended period of time. Once Finn explained his situation and showed off the pictures, the ladies were sympathetically angry with all that happened. Once they were done with their ranting, they let Finn get to his job. He was essentially the janitor there for three days a week. Today he had a lot to do, but it was certainly helping him keep his mind off his car. He vacuumed the carpeted rooms, mopped the tiled floors, emptied the trashcans, cleaned the kitchens and bathrooms, and dusted up in the sanctuary. It was a rather large church so it took nearly all of the three hours. It was 5:30 when he finished up.
"Hey Burt," Finn said into the phone as he dialed his step-father's number. "I'm all finished up here, do you want me to come pick you up?"
"Yeah, stop down and I'll let you pick out a spare car that we have here and take it home until we fix up your car," Burt replied.
"You don't have to do that," Finn said. He was just going to submit it to the insurance and get a rental, but then again, he figured Burt knew what he was talking about.
"I'm not taking no for an answer," Burt said. "Come on down and we can talk more about it."
"No problem," Finn said before hanging up the phone. He turned to the ladies who had Charlotte. "Thanks for everything you ladies do. You're very understanding."
"You are a good young man. You are doing everything for Charlotte and that idiot child had to go and mess things up."
"You're right about that one," Finn admitted.
"And you don't give yourself near enough credit," she chided gently. Finn blushed. "You are doing a great job taking care of that precious little girl."
He went about gathering up all his stuff, and all of Charlotte's before they headed out to meet Burt at the garage. Finn was very glad that Burt kept a car seat in his truck. They babbled back and forth to each other in the truck as they drove. Burt was waiting for them just outside the bay doors, talking to his right hand man, Bill.
"Hey kid, how was work?" Burt asked as Finn pulled up and lowered the window to talk.
"Not too bad, it was good to keep my mind off things," Finn admitted. "How is the car coming?"
"We got all the damaged parts off, and all the doors off," Burt said. "They are going to strip the paint job tonight and get everything sanded down so I can really inspect for body damage tomorrow."
"I still can't believe he thought he could get away with this," Finn just shook his head.
"He drug his boy in here to see the progress when school was over," Burt said. "That kid was practically pissing his pants when Jake drug him in by his ear. Jake got a new car seat and I already installed it in the other SUV we have in the back, its white."
"I really appreciate this Burt," Finn said.
"It's no problem kid," Burt assured him. "Now I'm going to drive that car home, and get things all situated here, but you go ahead and take the truck home. I'm sure you have stuff to do there as well."
"A few things," Finn admitted. "I'll see you at home then."
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Finn got home and got Charlotte settled in her bouncer chair and got to work with his syllabi and a date planner. This would be his plan of attack for this marking period to start. He marked down the days of the tests and when the projects were due. This would allow him to better plan how he was going to get things done with Charlotte and everything. He managed to do a load of laundry and get things ready for dinner. By this time, Burt had come home and Puck and Dave brought Artie into the house. Finn got his other papers and began to fill in his planner, Puck immediately went to grab Charlotte, and Dave and Artie started in on how to get revenge on the puckhead.
Puck simply wanted to return the favor and destroy Rick's car. Finn immediately veto'd that idea because he things Rick is getting his justification by having to pay for the repairs. Artie wanted to make sure that he knew we were serious. Their resident parapalegic wanted to seriously beat the guy up. Finn didn't want anyone to get into trouble. Dave actually found out some good news. Rick was officially kicked off the hockey team. That was quite the revenge that Finn was looking for. The boys ended up staying and palling around until Carol got home. Puck even insisted that he put Charlotte to bed.
"What's going on honey?" Carol asked as she walked in at 10:15.
"Why don't you go get something to eat," Finn suggested. "There's a plate in the microwave. I'll say good night and then come fill you in."
"Okay," Carol agreed hesitantly.
"Alright guys, I'll see you tomorrow morning. Thanks for bringing me my stuff and hanging with me."
"No problem man," Dave said. "What are friends for?" The three boys headed out and Finn went to join Carol in the kitchen.
"You going to tell me why your car isn't in the driveway and why a white SUV is taking its place?" Carol asked. Finn immediately took out his phone and showed her the pictures and filled her in on the events of the day. Once he was done showing her the pictures she had just one question at the moment. "Who?"
"Jake Nelson's kid," Finn answered. "Burt really helped me out today."
"He never told me," Carol said.
"We didn't want to worry you," Finn said. "He towed the car and Jake said Rick was going to replace the car seat. But said he could do the repairs in the shop."
"Honey, I'm so sorry this happened to you," Carol lamented. "How much did Burt say that it was going to cost?"
"Somewhere around $4000," Finn replied. "But probably more because he is really pissed about the car seat. And that's just the parts. He said he is going to charge through the nose for labor."
"I hope that Jake is making that miscreant get a job and pay for it, not just pay out of pocket."
"Either that or Jake is going to pay it off and make Rick pay it back, with interest," Finn shrugged.
"So… how did work go? If you did go?" Carol asked.
"I went, Burt let me take his truck. It went well. It was something that kept my mind off of the whole situation."
"I'm glad that helped," Carol replied. "I bet those ladies were pissed when they heard what happened."
"They offered to take up a collection to help me pay to get the car fixed, but I told them Burt's plan and they were totally for it."
"I bet they were," Carol said, getting up and hugging her son. "I bet they were."