Free The Instructor by Terry Towers Page B

gave her a smile, "and Tony." He leaned back against his seat, stretching his arms out along the back of the booth. "He's an excellent instructor. We have nothing but the utmost respect for him."
    "And you're a great student." Adam jerked his thumb in the direction of Mike. “To be honest we have both been really impressed at how far you've come in just the past few weeks.”
    Faith looked from one sympathetic, yet hesitant face to the other. "Thank you guys, but you don't need to sugar-coat it for me. What's going on? What are people saying?"
    Mike and Adam shared a look before both turning their attention back to her again.
    There were a few moments of dead silence within the trio before Mike spoke. "We know."
    Adam gave her a weak, lopsided smile before adding, "We all know."
    "Everyone can tell there is something between you two. We knew from day one. To be honest, I was going to ask you out until I noticed the way he looked at you," Mike admitted.
    Adam nodded. "It's painfully evident."
    Faith's jaw dropped. She realized her mouth was hanging open and snapped it shut. While it was initially a shock, truth be known she wasn't overly surprised. The pull that seemed to have emerged between herself and Tony was intense, so no doubt it was noticed regardless of how hard they tried to hide it. She wasn't overly shocked over Mike's admitting his attraction to her either. She would have placed bets on that the first day of classes.
    She shook her head, her ponytail swaying easily back and forth behind her head. "Well an attraction doesn't mean..."
    "Jerome saw you two," Adam blurted. Mike shot him a look, to which he simply shrugged.
    "Saw us?" She pretended to sound confused, but knew exactly the instance they were referring to.
    "Yesterday. The blinds to Tony's office window were open. Jerome watched you two during lunch period through the window."
    Faith groaned inwardly. Not a whole lot of sense denying it now , she supposed.
    Before she could respond the waitress returned, heaving a large tray on her right shoulder. With the grace of a true professional she slid the plates of food from the tray and deposited them in front of the appropriate people. "Would there be anything else anyone needs?" she inquired. Her smile was infectious, prompting Faith to smile in return despite the inner turmoil she was experiencing.
    Adam and Mike shook their heads, already digging into the meal.
    "No, but thank you," Faith replied as she took a moment to indulge in the sweet aroma of her deluxe hamburger and fries.
    "The best burgers in town," Mike commented, taking a hungry man bite from the patty.
    "No doubt," Adam agreed beside her.
    Once his hamburger was devoured Mike looked up at Faith, who was picking at her food. "From my understanding of the situation, Jerome was planning on using the information as leverage for a better grade."
    "Haha. Scratch that. Passing grade," Adam commented, laughed, choked on a few french fries still in his mouth, chewed, swallowed, then laughed some more.
    A smirk came over Mike's face as he watched Adam try to regain his composure. "Guess he decided not to wait."
    Faith sighed, dropping her fork to her plate. Despite having only eaten a small portion of the meal she had lost her appetite. "So what should I do?"
    "You're a good welder, and smart as hell from what we can tell."
    Adam nodded, ploughing another fork full of fries into his mouth.
    "Keep your head down and just keep working. Be careful who you trust; not everyone is out for your best interests," Mike warned, finishing off the last of his fries.
    "You being involved with Tony makes it all that much harder on you," Adam agreed. Pointing at her fries he asked, "You planning on eating those?"
    Laughing, Faith rolled her eyes and pushed the plate over to him. "They’re all yours."
     
    ****
     
    Faith was worried. It was now 8pm and Tony still hadn't arrived or called. Granted he wouldn't have been able to leave the school until 4pm, but that didn't