CHAPTER 27

5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

The one second mark seemed to last an eternity before the lights finally went out and the cars went screeching off the starting line. That's where everything went wrong for Finn… As soon as he tried to accelerate, he realised that there was a power failure in his car. He was not even going a tenth the speed of the other drivers so was lapped by everyone before they even reached the first turn of the race.

"WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!" Finn shouted into the team radio.

"Power failure. Power failure." Dalton replied.

"Well, what do I do?" Finn asked, shortly as he tried to drive as fast as his car would allow. It was back to full speed now but Finn had lost around 20 seconds on the other drivers.

"Two options." Dalton said. "Retire or keep racing. We can't guarantee you won't have another power cut before the end of the race. We'll work on fixing that for the next race, don't worry. So yeah, retire or race."

Finn gritted his teeth.

"I'll race." He replied before flooring it and hurtling towards the other drivers…

Lap 10/50…

Finn had closed the gap between him and second last place to ten seconds, averaging almost a second faster than the other drivers every lap.

"How am I looking?" Finn asked Dalton.

"Everything looks good. Tyres look good. Engine looks good. You are ten seconds from the pack. At this trajectory, you should be approaching the pack on Lap 20."

"That's great, but how am I looking compared to first place?"

He heard Dalton chuckled.

"Finn, I don't really think we're getting a podium this week." Dalton laughed. "You're a good minute away."

"Don't count me out yet." Finn muttered before hitting the accelerator…

Lap 20/50

Almost halfway through the race and Finn had just caught up with the 20th place driver. He was by far one of the best drivers on the grid and it was purely car troubles that led him to be in last place. But not for long…

"OK, approaching 19th now. Take him on." Dalton said.

"Copy that." Finn replied, before expertly cutting outside and squeezing the 19th car so that it would have to slow down in fear of driving into the barricades, before zooming past and taking his place in the middle of the lane.

"YEEE HAWWW!" Finn shouted, bursting with glee. It was his first overtake of the season and it was a clean one. He was in the midst of the pack now and was fast approaching the next few cars.

Lap 30/50

11th place! Finn had pulled himself up to 11th place! One more overtake and he would be in the points region. He was proving to everyone on the grid why he was the superior driver.

"How am I looking?" Finn asked.

"Very good, man. Very good. On your current path, you might even hit 5th."

"5th? Hell no! That's not fucking good enough." Finn spat. "I'm getting this podium. So help me god I'm getting that podium."

"Finn, don't push too far. Too far and you risk making a mistake."

"Yeah, or I can push to the very edge and claim a podium." Finn muttered.

Lap 40/50

Finn had definitely stepped up his game. He was flying around the track, expertly weaving in and out. Nobody could believe how far he had come in the 40 laps of the race. He was averaging nearly a second and a half faster than the driver ahead. He was now 5th place - the position he had been projected to finish the race in. Podium wasn't even too far away from him now. Only two more places to bump him up to third place.

"Um… Dalton. I'm going for it." Finn declared into his microphone.

"Go ahead. You've got this, Finn." Dalton said. Finn grinned and pushed his car as far as it could possibly go.

Lap 50/50

One final lap. One more round around the circuit. Only one and a half minutes left. Finn was in 2nd, and he wasn't happy. It had been a fairytale race for him - starting from second place, his car breaking down at the very beginning, starting from the first lap in last place, pulling himself all the way up the grid. The only thing left was his happy ending. It was his first race back and he was gunning for the first place spot.

"Dalton, I'm getting this win. How far behind am I?" Finn asked.

"You're 2 seconds behind. But hang back. Don't press, please. Don't press." Dalton requested. Finn raised an eyebrow.

"What? Why? I can get the win! The driver in front of me is slow!" Finn shouted.

"I know. But the driver in front of you is your teammate."

"Wait… Josh is first right now?" Finn asked, shocked. Dalton laughed.

"Don't sound so surprised." Dalton responded. "Yeah, Josh is first and we don't want you to contest and end up hitting each other. We've got first and second right now. Let's not lose it."

"Mate, this is the only chance I have of catching him. I'm not just going to sit behind like a fucking grandma." Finn said, before turning his radio off, ignoring Dalton's shouts. He floored the accelerator and pushed his car to the very furthest it could go. He was catching Josh. He could already see him. Finn kept closing the gap with every passing second. 1 second… 0.8 seconds… 0.6 seconds… 0.3 seconds…

Soon, Finn was right alongside his fellow GRG driver. Finn easily had the better position on the track and the overtake would be extremely easily. As Finn passed, he cheekily waved at Josh, who flipped him the bird in reply. Finn chuckled and accelerated, drifting past him and crossing the checkered flag as the victor of the first race of the season in the US Formula 3 Championship.

"WHOOOOO!" Finn shouted as he slowly decelerated and pulled into the pit lane. "Let's GOOOO! I'm back BABYYYY!"

"Get in there, Finn! Great work, mate. That was an awesome drive. Such spectacular speed and precision. Fantastic."

"Last to first, eh?" Finn remarked. "There's gotta be a record for that. Awesome! Thank you so much, guys. All of you. Great work this whole weekend. Cheers."

Finn parked his car in the garage and as soon as he stepped out of his car, he was dived on top of by his whole team, who were celebrating wildly. They had claimed maximum points in the constructor's championship as Finn and Josh had claimed 1st and 2nd place, and Finn claimed the bonus point for achieving the fastest lap.

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That night was one of the best of Finn's life. Standing back on the top of the podium after a year of being out was a feeling like he had never felt before. He floated on a cloud of euphoria and triumph. Josh was just as ecstatic with his own performance. He knew that Finn was the better driver and second place was as good as a win for him.

After the podium celebration, when the drivers finally made it back to the hotel, Finn took out his phone to text his family and Emily with the good news but unfortunately, he realised that his phone was dead. Oh well, Finn was too happy to be annoyed. He got on the plane back to Ohio less than 5 hours after the race, ready for school the next day. He had Glee club and football now to think about, as well as his racing career. It was a lot, but he was ready…

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On Monday, Emily walked into school, slightly upset. She hadn't heard from Finn all weekend again, but this time, she wasn't worried. She trusted Finn, and more importantly, she loved him. And she knew how much he loved her. Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to see Sam smiling sympathetically at her.

"Go away, Sam." Emily spat.

"Hear me out." Sam said, quickly. "Finn's cheating on you." He said. Emily raised an eyebrow.

"Where have I heard that before?" Emily remarked, sarcastically.

"I had no proof before. I do now." He said.

"Fuck off, Sam. Finn loves me, and I love him." Emily said, and she pushed past him to walk away.

"I have photo proof!" He called after her. She slowly turned around to face him again.

"Um… what?" She asked, confused. Sam walked back towards her, taking his phone out in the process.

"Maybe Finn was in Columbus before, but where was Finn this weekend, huh?" Sam asked. Emily shrugged.

"None of your business." Emily snapped. "Now, do you have something to show me or not?"

Sam nodded.

"Let's talk somewhere quieter. Let's go to the bleachers…"

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"Look, Sam, Glee starts in 5 minutes. Unless you've got something to show me, I'm gonna go." Emily spat. Sam opened his phone's camera roll and showed Emily a photo. When she saw it, her heart dropped…

Finn, her Finn, was locked in a fierce embrace with Quinn and was kissing her passionately. Emily's eyes filled with tears. Her heart felt like it had been ripped out of her chest and stomped on it right in front of her. She couldn't believe it. After everything Finn had said to her last week, he had still gone and cheated on her.

"Where did you get this?" She murmured quietly, forcing herself to keep it together.

"I saw them in the park on Saturday. Thought you'd like to see a picture." Sam said. Emily's devastation quickly turned into anger. She wanted revenge. She grabbed Sam and started kissing him. She kissed him fiercely, not out of love but out of revenge, for a while before someone came and sat down next to her. She turned around to look at the person and realised it was Finn. His expression was confused more than anything else.

"Hi. Am I interrupting?" He asked, sarcastically. Emily finally got over her shock and slapped him as hard as she could. Finn didn't even flinch though. He just got more and more perplexed. What in the world was going on?

"I'm sorry. What the hell is going on?" Finn asked, annoyed now. He had just walked in on his girlfriend kissing his least favourite person in the world. Who knew what else they had done over the weekend?

"Cut the crap, Finn!" Emily snapped. "I know you cheated on me with Quinn!"

Finn's face was written with confusion.

"Em, what are you talking about? I would never cheat on you!" Finn exclaimed.

"Shut the hell up Finn," she shouted. "Sam showed me a picture of you two making out in Lima Park from two days ago."

"Emily, that's impossible."

"Pictures don't lie." Emily yelled.

"Emily, I'm telling you it's untrue. There is no way I could have done that."

"Why? What possible excuse could you have?" she screamed.

"I WAS RACING ALL WEEKEND IN ALBUQUERQUE!" He gave up on being patient, and flat-out bellowed at her. Emily was stunned. Either Finn or Sam was lying to her.

"Well, if you were in Albuquerque, how do you explain these pictures," Sam asked. He took out his phone and showed Finn the pictures. Finn studied them for a second, and rolled his eyes.

"They aren't me. They're photoshopped." he said, quietly.

"That's bullshit, Finn! You cheated! Don't try and get out of it!" Sam shouted, slightly desperately and unconvincingly.

"They're photoshopped and I can prove it," Finn said, still keeping a low, dangerous tone in his voice. "I'm not even going to begin to talk about the fact that I was in a different state, racing in a race that is available to be watched online. First, look at that guy's wardrobe. I own none of those clothes. Second, the height difference between the people in the picture is different to the height difference of Quinn and I in real life. Also, I've kissed you before. You know I always have one hand on your cheek, when both of this guy's hands are around Quinn's waist. Furthermore, this guy has got no muscle, and his hands are lady hands. It's clearly Sam who just photoshopped my face on his body." Finn remarked. Sam scowled at him.

"Fuck off, Hudson." Sam growled. Finn rolled his eyes.

"And finally…" Finn continued, ignoring the blonde. "And most importantly, look at the guy's hand. No ring. Look at mine."

Emily realised what Finn was referring to. Finn ALWAYS wore his black, tungsten ring. Emily finally realised that Sam had photoshopped the pictures and it was her who had just cheated, not Finn.

"Finn, I'm so sorry…" Emily started, but Finn cut her off.

"No, it's my turn to talk. First of all, Sam, how dare you photoshop pictures of me to make it look like I was cheating! You fucking jackass, I know you want to be with Emily, but you seriously stooped that low? Get your ass out of here before I pound you into the ground." Finn growled.

Sam immediately got up and scuttled away. Finn turned back around to face Emily.

"And you," he continued. "You seriously believed Sam over me? And you start making out with him before even confronting me? I get that the picture looked pretty convincing. But if you just come to me first, I could have told you what I just said. But NO! You insist on finding my least favourite guy in Lima, and making out with him!"

Emily had started sobbing at this point. "Finn, I'm so sorry. If I had known, I…" Finn interrupted her again.

"If you had known? No Emily! You should have trusted me from the start! I shouldn't have to be tracked like a dog so my girlfriend knows where I am and who I'm with at all times. You clearly have no trust in me. You've shown me that the whole time we've been dating. You know what? I don't deserve this!"

"What are you saying?" Emily stammered.

"I'm saying we're done. And no, it isn't Sam's fault. This is on you!" Finn stepped off from the bleachers and walked towards the school. Emily put her head in her hands and cried her heart out.