CHAPTER 35

The weeks started to trickle by for Finn. Every week packed with Glee and Football rehearsal, every weekend in a different city for a race. Los Angeles, Denver, Miami, Chicago. The cities just kept on piling up, and so did his race positions. 1st, 2nd, 1st, 1st, 2nd. He was on the top of his game in the racing division and was finally back where he belonged: at the top of the division. He was once again one of the brightest stars in the car racing industry and was back on the track of making it into the F1. However, despite the fact that every second of his minute of his day was jam packed, he still somehow had time to miss Emily. He missed her so much, and seeing her in school every day definitely didn't help. Nor did Josh's advice about moving on by hooking up with everything that moves.

Soon, they rolled into the beginning of March and rather than getting closer together, Emily and Finn drifted further apart. They were nowhere near getting back together. In fact, Emily had just started talking to a guy from Carmel High called Jack Dante. He was the leader of Vocal Adrenaline - the favourite Glee club to win Nationals and the champions for the past 7 years in a row. Emily had finally come to terms that maybe her and Finn were truly over and she needed to accept that. But the biggest shock happened on March 1st…

Mr. Schue walked into Glee club that day, his face etched in a slight frown.

"Mr. Schue. Is everything okay?" Finn asked. Mr. Schue shook his head.

"Listen up, guys!" He said. "I have bad news. Emily has transferred out of McKinley effective immediately. After the fight, she didn't feel comfortable in the school, so they decided to transfer her to Carmel."

Everyone gasped and started to murmur in annoyance. Emily had joined their rival show choir, not even a month before the biggest Glee competition of their lives.

"Why is she leaving now? The fight was two weeks ago." Mercedes remarked, needlessly. They all knew the answer. She wanted to stay to try and get Finn back, but when that failed, she decided to leave.

"I don't know, guys. All I know is that we have Regionals in 4 weeks and we're down one member so guys… be sure to keep your eyes out for another member."

Everyone nodded. They were incredibly shocked at what just happened. Nobody knew what to say.

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That afternoon, Finn was in Columbus but they weren't on the track. It had just snowed so the circuit was still slightly wet and therefore unsafe. Instead, the team were messing around on the electronic simulators, having a good time. Their team was comfortably 1st in the constructor's championship so they could afford to slack off slightly and spend a bit of time relaxing. They could afford to ease their foot slightly from the accelerator (literally!). Finn was by far the best at the race simulator, even when he was just mucking around. He had just won a race against Dalton - the race engineer - and he stood up triumphantly.

"Let's go!" He exclaimed. "Who wants to challenge the champ?"

"I'll give it a go." Someone replied from the corner of the room. Everyone turned to see the CEO of the Racing Company - Kevin Harris - standing next to a girl around Finn's age. She was pretty attractive too - she had dark hair with streaks of blonde, she was almost 5'11 in height, but the most captivating thing about her was her eyes. Her eyes were blue, but rather than being a clear, ocean-blue like many others, they were stormy. Like she had to fight tooth and claw for literally everything. However, she disguised that with a faint smile. Based on her appearance alone, she looked like the epitome of a popular girl.

"Guys, listen up." Kevin Harris, the CEO, said. "This is Tory Nichols. She's the newest racer on the team. Straight from the UK."

Tory shook hands with the whole team, including her new racing engineer. Finn and Josh smiled at her.

"So, what brings you to the US? I know racing is much better in the UK so that can't be the reason." Finn asked. Tory laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, it was my mom's job that brought me here. Now, are we going to race or what?"

Finn smiled and the two of them sat in the simulators. They proceeded to race in the closest race Finn had ever competed in on any of the simulations. Tory was definitely a step up from anyone Finn had ever raced. It was neck and neck the entire time, with Tory taking the win at the very last second. She stood up, triumphantly. Everyone was shell-shocked. She raised an eyebrow.

"What? You've never seen a girl kick ass before?" She asked.

"You just… beat Finn." Josh stammered. "Nobody beats Finn."

Tory shrugged.

"What can I say? I'm just that good." She replied, smirking at them.

"Finn… she's coming for your crown." Josh remarked. Finn nodded.

"Yeah, she is. And I'm scared now." He said, before turning to Tory. "What school did you say you go to again?"

She shook her head.

"I didn't. I haven't started school yet. After all, I just moved last week. But next Monday, I'm starting. I'm going to…"

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A couple of days later, Josh, Tory and Finn sat in a restaurant, eating some dinner. Josh and Tory were chatting, getting to know each other. Tory was, as her looks suggested, a party girl, and the person who never passed up a free drink. However, on the inside, she was a nice person. Finn was kind of preoccupied so completely ignored Josh and Tory's conversation. He was on his phone the whole time, and didn't even notice Josh stand up and leave. Suddenly, Tory broke the silence.

"You want the rest of this brownie sundae?" She asked. Finn jumped in surprise and looked up. "I'm not gonna lie to you. I already ate the brownie and the whipped cream and most of the hot fudge." She said. Finn chuckled.

"So you saved me the now melted ice cream?" He asked.

"Yeah, the best part." She said. Finn laughed. "Seriously, what are you working on?"

"Um…" Finn stammered. Tory raised an eyebrow.

"Is it something dirty?" She asked, gleefully. Finn blushed and shook his head.

"No, it's nothing dirty." He replied.

"Show me! Come on!" She exclaimed, relentlessly. Finn sighed and handed her his phone.

"I could use a girl's opinion on this, actually." He took a deep breath. "But you have to promise not to laugh."

"I can't make that promise." She said. She opened his phone to reveal a long letter addressed to Emily.

"Is this for your…" She started but trailed off.

"Ex? Yeah." He replied. She kept reading it until she finally reached the end. She tossed him back his phone. "So what do you think?" He asked, nervously.

"I think…" Tory thought for a moment. "I think you should delete that. Put it in the trash, empty the bin and have your phone cremated."

"It's that bad?" Finn asked.

"It makes you look desperate." She said.

"Well, I mean… I kinda am."

"Yeah, but girls aren't into desperate guys."

"Then how am I supposed to let her know how I feel?"

"You don't." Tory replied. "You act like you're totally over her. Like you don't care. Then she'll want you back. And you know how to get over her?"

"How?"

"Have a little fun." She smiled. "And I know just the place…"

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"Ready? Three… two… one… GO!" She exclaimed, and then Finn jumped feet first onto a seesaw, catapulting Tory - who was perched on the other side - into the air. The two of them were in an abandoned kid's playground, and were having a lot of fun.

"Oh my gosh. You are insane!" Finn exclaimed.

"Yeah, heard that before." She replied. The two of them moved so that they sat under the main platform.

"I'm so dizzy." Finn remarked.

"But you're having fun, right?" She asked. Finn nodded.

"That I am." Finn replied. "You know, when you said you had a place to go, I figured it'd be some place where you needed a fake ID."

"Yeah, we can go somewhere like that if you want." She suggested. "My friend bartends at this place about twenty minutes away."

"No. No, no, no. I kind of dig the abandoned playground vibes." He said. "It looks like an awesome place to… fight off a zombie apocalypse."

Tory giggled and then realised something.

"Shit, what time is it?" She asked, taking out her phone. She suddenly pushed Finn so that the two of them were laying flat on their backs. At that moment, a plane flew extremely low right over them. It was the closest Finn had ever been to a plane that he wasn't flying in.

"Holy shit! That was awesome!"

"Every night, 10:36 on the dot. It's the last flight out of Columbus." She explained. Finn nodded.

"You know, Emily and I once went to this ice cream shop in Columbus…"

Tory groaned.

"Oh my god! You were on such a roll! You went like almost an hour without mentioning her." She commented. Finn looked down.

"Yeah, I'm… I'm sorry. Uh… my mentor just said to always go all in and make a move and I'm still trying to figure out what that means."

"I think it means exactly what it sounds like." She replied, gazing into his eyes. "Make a move."

Simultaneously, the two of them locked into a passionate kiss, lying on the soft dirt ground on the playground…

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On Monday morning, Emily had just finished her first week in Vocal Adrenaline. Although she refused to admit it, it was her relationship with Finn - well, lack of relationship with him - that drove her out of the club.

Vocal Adrenaline was a completely different group this year than in previous years, with the old leader Dustin Goolsby being fired and replaced with a new leader, Shelby Corcoran. Shelby was a long-time rival of Mr. Schue's from when they used to be in their high school show choirs together and their teaching style was very similar.

For some reason, Vocal Adrenaline were all ushered into SUVs that afternoon and they drove for around 20 minutes. When they stepped out, Emily was greeted with an extremely familiar sight…

At that moment…

"Hey guys. How were your weekends?" Mr. Schue asked, striding cheerfully into the auditorium.

"Okay." They all mumbled.

"Great news everybody!" Mr. Schue exclaimed. "We have another member joining the Glee club, once again courtesy of Finn."

Finn saluted Mr. Schue and everyone turned to him.

"Who is it?" Artie asked. Finn smiled.

"My girlfriend." He replied. Everyone's eyes widened.

"Your… your girlfriend? You mean Emily's coming back?" Tina asked. Finn shook her head.

"Nah, this is my new girlfriend Tory. She's also a driver for my racing team." Finn said. Tory walked into the room moments later. She quickly introduced herself, and beamed as she kissed Finn and sat down beside him. The Glee club was a lot happier that day. They were back up to 12 members so were able to compete in Regionals again. However, less than twenty minutes into rehearsal, they were interrupted when the doors to the auditorium swung open and Vocal Adrenaline barged inside. The New Directions immediately stood up and faced their rival group, ready to fight them if necessary. Finn was at the front of the New Directions, ready to lead them into battle, but Mr. Schue held him back.

"Can we help you? Is there a problem?" Mr. Schue asked, politely. The leader of Vocal Adrenaline, a guy named Jack, shook his head.

"No problem. We just wanted to wish you good luck in Regionals. It's refreshing to see one of our opponents being a team less… experienced than yours."

Jack paused before the word experienced to show that he was basically insulting the New Directions. Finn stepped up and squared up to him.

"Listen buddy. You got a big-ass mouth but how much talking or singing are you going to do if I knock those pretty little teeth in." Finn spat, about to attack the opposing senior. Tory grabbed his hand.

"Babe, no. It's not worth it." She whispered. From the back of Vocal Adrenaline, Emily's heart dropped. Babe? That meant… that meant Finn was dating someone! Not that it was any of her concern. After all, she was also dating someone. Suddenly, someone pushed past her and walked to the front of the room.

"Wow… what a hotheaded bunch you've got this year?" Shelby Corcoran, the leader of Vocal Adrenaline, said. Mr. Schue's face paled. He hadn't seen Shelby in almost 30 years. She was his first love, and first ex-girlfriend, before she switched to Carmel High and Vocal Adrenaline and ended up beating him at Nationals. They had broken up 30 years ago because Shelby had cheated on, repeatedly. When he found out, he was heartbroken and he broke up with her. Thus began an epic rivalry between the two vocal titans in the State. Mr. Schue had never forgiven Shelby, nor forgotten about their rivalry.

"Sh… sh… Shelby. What are you doing here?" He stammered. Shelby smirked.

"Surprised to see me, William?" She asked. "I'm the new coach of Vocal Adrenaline."

Mr. Schue's face went from shock to determination. Shelby Corcoran had walked over him in their high school relationship, in their Glee club, when she transferred and competed for Vocal Adrenaline. There was no way he was letting her win. New Directions were winning at all cost…