Talk to you later.
Knowing he was working and wouldn’t answer back for a while, she decided to drive downtown to accomplish some errands before meeting with Ted. Walking out to her car, she saw Brad and a couple of boys talking together. They all turned their heads, looking her way as she got to her car. Their expressions did not make her nervous, but looked guilty as though they had been caught talking about her. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind and headed off to the stores.
*
A couple of hours later, Emma was sitting in a booth at the diner waiting for Ted. The diner was an updated version of an old soda shop. A counter running along the side of the room allowed customers to sit on high stools. The other side of the room had booths and tables. A plump waitress came over to take Emma’s order. She explained that she was waiting on someone and would order when they arrived.
Ted finally came in, belting out his greetings to everyone around. Hugely popular in the small town where everyone loved high school sports, he was considered a hometown character. Emma couldn’t help but grin at him, enjoying his popularity. Ted plopped himself down in the booth across from her, as the waitress came back over to take their orders.
Waiting for their food, Emma took several papers out of her briefcase and gave them to Ted. “As you can see, there are at least four of your starting seniors whose grades are plummeting. They will still be academically eligible to play, but it is not like these boys to do so poorly.”
Ted looked over the grade sheets carefully, keeping his expression neutral. “You seem to be implying that something is going on besides just not doing their work,” he stated.
“Ted I don’t know what is going on. But I would like to ask that each of these boys stay with me for thirty minutes of tutoring after school each day before practice. That way I can make sure to help them keep up with their homework and maybe find out what is going on with them.”
Ted seemed hesitant at first, which Emma found irritating. Why was he hesitating? Was there something that he knew?
“Ted, if you are worried about them missing practice, I promise the tutoring won’t cut into practice time. But you have to admit that if you don’t agree and they become academically ineligible to play, you and they lose?”
Faced with that possibility, Ted agreed that her plan was sound. Smiling back at Emma, he was just about to ask her for drinks after dinner. Before he could say anything, the broad smile on his face faltered as he looked over Emma’s shoulder.
“Emma,” said an angry voice next to her, pulling her out of her thoughts. Emma jumped in her chair, swinging her head around, knowing whose voice she was hearing. Seeing Jake always brought a smile to her face, but she instantly knew he was not happy.
“Jake, hey. Did you get my message?” she asked, hoping Jake was not caught unaware.
“Got a text, babe, about a school meeting,” he said with his eyes raised at Ted.
Ted, seeming to be glad for the interruption, greeted Jake with a smile. “Jake, good to see you. Miss Emma needed to talk to me so I thought I would take the opportunity to take the lovely lady out to dinner.”
Emma swung her head around to Ted, her mouth hanging open. “This is not a date,” she stammered. “We were talking about some students I am concerned about.”
Jake, realizing that Emma had misinterpreted Ted’s intent, sat down next to her determined to make it very clear to Ted just who Emma belonged to. As he sat next to her in the booth, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in closely.
At this, Ted then raised his eyebrows at them. “Well, I see I have missed the first opportunity,” he said.
Emma, feeling as though she was in the middle of a pissing contest, grew angry. “Ted, I wanted to present my idea about a tutoring session for your boys; that is all this is. Do you agree that it is a good idea
Knowing he was working and wouldn’t answer back for a while, she decided to drive downtown to accomplish some errands before meeting with Ted. Walking out to her car, she saw Brad and a couple of boys talking together. They all turned their heads, looking her way as she got to her car. Their expressions did not make her nervous, but looked guilty as though they had been caught talking about her. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind and headed off to the stores.
*
A couple of hours later, Emma was sitting in a booth at the diner waiting for Ted. The diner was an updated version of an old soda shop. A counter running along the side of the room allowed customers to sit on high stools. The other side of the room had booths and tables. A plump waitress came over to take Emma’s order. She explained that she was waiting on someone and would order when they arrived.
Ted finally came in, belting out his greetings to everyone around. Hugely popular in the small town where everyone loved high school sports, he was considered a hometown character. Emma couldn’t help but grin at him, enjoying his popularity. Ted plopped himself down in the booth across from her, as the waitress came back over to take their orders.
Waiting for their food, Emma took several papers out of her briefcase and gave them to Ted. “As you can see, there are at least four of your starting seniors whose grades are plummeting. They will still be academically eligible to play, but it is not like these boys to do so poorly.”
Ted looked over the grade sheets carefully, keeping his expression neutral. “You seem to be implying that something is going on besides just not doing their work,” he stated.
“Ted I don’t know what is going on. But I would like to ask that each of these boys stay with me for thirty minutes of tutoring after school each day before practice. That way I can make sure to help them keep up with their homework and maybe find out what is going on with them.”
Ted seemed hesitant at first, which Emma found irritating. Why was he hesitating? Was there something that he knew?
“Ted, if you are worried about them missing practice, I promise the tutoring won’t cut into practice time. But you have to admit that if you don’t agree and they become academically ineligible to play, you and they lose?”
Faced with that possibility, Ted agreed that her plan was sound. Smiling back at Emma, he was just about to ask her for drinks after dinner. Before he could say anything, the broad smile on his face faltered as he looked over Emma’s shoulder.
“Emma,” said an angry voice next to her, pulling her out of her thoughts. Emma jumped in her chair, swinging her head around, knowing whose voice she was hearing. Seeing Jake always brought a smile to her face, but she instantly knew he was not happy.
“Jake, hey. Did you get my message?” she asked, hoping Jake was not caught unaware.
“Got a text, babe, about a school meeting,” he said with his eyes raised at Ted.
Ted, seeming to be glad for the interruption, greeted Jake with a smile. “Jake, good to see you. Miss Emma needed to talk to me so I thought I would take the opportunity to take the lovely lady out to dinner.”
Emma swung her head around to Ted, her mouth hanging open. “This is not a date,” she stammered. “We were talking about some students I am concerned about.”
Jake, realizing that Emma had misinterpreted Ted’s intent, sat down next to her determined to make it very clear to Ted just who Emma belonged to. As he sat next to her in the booth, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in closely.
At this, Ted then raised his eyebrows at them. “Well, I see I have missed the first opportunity,” he said.
Emma, feeling as though she was in the middle of a pissing contest, grew angry. “Ted, I wanted to present my idea about a tutoring session for your boys; that is all this is. Do you agree that it is a good idea
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