Ennis walked out of the hotel, his mind clouded with everything that had happened this week. The confusion with Alma...and Jack. What had just happened in Jack's room stayed in his head as he untied Starbright and mounted him. He steered the horse in the direction of home, not knowing what he might face, but that was the last thing on his mind right now. The image of him and Jack on the bed together was at the forefront of his thoughts. He hadn't understood completely why it had happened. It was just something he had wanted to do, in that heated moment.

He had gone to Jack for help. Instead, Jack had manipulated him into a position where the teacher could put his lessons to good use. But Ennis hadn't exactly jumped at the chance to stop it from happening. Instead, he had done as he was told and now felt like everyone knew just by looking at him. He had been in bed with a man. Inappropriately. His mixed feelings about it was the reason why he wanted to leave the hotel.

Despite how much he didn't want to, Ennis returned home. He didn't see anyone outside as he headed straight for the barn. Once Starbright was back in his stall, Ennis was tempted to hide and hope passing time would soften his dad's anger. Knowing Jacob Del Mar, that wasn't happening. Hopefully his mom had talked to him, but Ennis was still in big trouble.

Ennis turned and walked out of the barn, stopping halfway to the house when he saw his dad standing on the porch, arms crossed. He still looked pissed, but not as mad as he had been earlier. Mom had obviously talked to him and defended Ennis as much as she could. Probably not enough to make this easier. Ennis licked his dry lips, his palms sweaty, then headed for the porch, stopping once more when his dad came down the steps toward him.

"Got somethin' to say for yourself, boy?" his dad asked. More like demanded. "And I don't want no excuse about you forgettin' what day it is. Your mama ain't happy that I gotta discipline you on our Lord's day, but somethin's gotta change." They stood that way for a moment, silent. Ennis knew better than to say anything yet. "Why'd you run off this mornin'?"

Ennis decided to go with the truth. To a certain extent. "I was scared," he said. "Uh, nervous 'bout sittin' in church with Alma." Should he tell his dad about the times Alma had come onto him? He wanted to, but no one would believe it. They'd say Alma wasn't capable of doing anything like that. She was too sweet. If only there was a way to get her to show her true colors to more than just him. "I wasn't plannin' on stayin' out all morning. But I fell asleep."

"You fell asleep," his dad said. He stepped forward and backhanded Ennis across the face. Ennis's face stung, but he gritted his teeth and stood firm. "You better be glad I ain't beatin' the tar outta your ass. If it was any day but Sunday..." He trailed off and shook his head. "I should do it anyway, but your mama would be upset. You're skippin' school this week. Stayin' home and doin' chores."

It wasn't the worst punishment he had suffered, but it was still unlikable. Ennis was still grateful it hadn't been anything else. He was lucky to have done this on a Sunday and that his mom had talked to his dad. "Yes, sir," Ennis mumbled then followed his dad back inside.

The next few days, Ennis was kept busy. He was glad to be away from school because he wouldn't have to face Alma again anytime soon. But he would be missing Jack's class. It was a good thing he already knew the basics of what Jack would be teaching this week, so he wouldn't really miss anything. And Jack would fill him in on anything he missed when he'd go on Saturday for his teacher assistant job. Surely his dad would let him go to that since Ennis would be skipping the rest of his classes and he would need something to keep his record good enough to graduate.

But as the days went by and Saturday got closer and closer, Ennis's thoughts went back to that moment in Jack's hotel room. At night he often laid awake because whenever he closed his eyes, he could picture Jack leaning over him, busily stroking their cocks together. Ennis would then wake up the next morning, his cock forming a tent at the front of his shorts. He had ducked into the bathroom so many times every morning that he was starting to think someone was catching on to what he was doing, but his parents didn't say anything.

Then Saturday arrived.

His dad had forgiven him for running out Sunday morning, so Ennis was free to go to the school for the teacher assistant job.

Ennis crawled out of bed early, palming himself as he stepped into the bathroom. He stripped down and took a cold shower, but it didn't help so Ennis ended up jerking off in the shower, holding back a groan as he finished. Showered, Ennis dried off and dressed then headed downstairs. His parents were eating breakfast in the kitchen. Ennis walked over to the table and sat down without a word.

"Don't forget to pick up some groceries on your way home," his dad said, not looking up from the newspaper he was reading. "I'd go this mornin', but I'm not really in the mood to wait for you again. Plus, the Beers wanna talk to me." Finally he looked over at Ennis. "About Starbright."

"They gonna take him back?" Ennis had grown fond of the horse, even though they hadn't owned him for that long. If the Beers' were actually going to take it back, what could he do about it?

His dad folded the newspaper and set it aside. "They're comin' over for dinner tonight," he said. "They'll probably wanna talk to me about getting you and Alma to go out together. You give them a good impression at supper, they'll let us keep Starbright."

Taking back a horse just because Ennis had so far refused to go out with Alma was a bit childish, but they needed that horse for the upcoming season. Starbright was a working horse. If they took Starbright back, that would mean extra work for Ennis. He didn't like the idea, but he would have to start courting Alma or else his summer would be hell.

His mom gave Ennis a full plate of breakfast. Her eyes met his for a moment and he knew what she was asking. He looked down at his plate. "I'll do my best," he murmured, which was the best he could do.

Thankfully, his words were satisfying enough for his dad because he dropped the subject and the rest of breakfast was spent in silence. Comfortable silence, at least.

After breakfast, Ennis gave his mom a kiss then headed out the door, noticing his dad heading out into the fields to start working. Ennis climbed into the truck and started off the property. He arrived at the school a few minutes before his scheduled time with Jack.

His boots echoed down the empty hall, lost in his own thoughts. He couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to see Jack again after nearly a full week. Especially with the memory of what had happened the last time he had seen Jack. Would Jack even want to hear about the struggles Ennis had had over those few minutes in Jack's hotel room? How he had woken up, cock aching every morning? Surely it was part of the learning experience, but Ennis suddenly felt nervous about sharing those intimate details.

He stopped at Jack's classroom, pausing before going inside. He heard Jack talking to someone, though he couldn't make out what was being said. He peered in through the window on the door and saw Jack talking to a boy Ennis's age. Ennis recognized him from the class, but recall his name. Ennis stepped back away from the door, not wanting to be rude. He couldn't just walk right in, so he decided to wait. The wait wasn't too long. A few minutes later, the student stepped out, glanced at Ennis once, then headed off down the hall toward the exit. Ennis watched him go for a moment then stepped inside the classroom.

Jack appeared happy to see him, but it was clear he was checking for anymore bruises on Ennis's face. Ennis remembered the anger he had seen on Jack's face when Ennis told him what happened last week and a deep part of him was starting to wish Jack had done something to his dad, but then immediately regretted that thought and pushed it far away. His dad was only doing what he thought was right. Ennis couldn't hate him for that.

"Good to see ya back, Ennis," Jack said, a smile on his face as he sat on the edge of his desk, facing Ennis. "Have a good week? Close the door."

Ennis closed the door behind him. "Better than I expected," he replied, not wanting to get too far into whatever troubles he may have at home. He gestured behind him. "Who was -"

"That was Randy," Jack said. "He stopped by, trying to get a sneak peek of next week's lessons. I told him he could wait just like everyone else." He gave a small smirk. "Except for you, of course. You've actually got a bit of catching up to do. You'll be doin' a bit of homework this mornin'. Extra curricular I gave the class a couple o' times."

"More papers?"

Jack nodded his head as he stood up, walking around the desk to sit down in his chair. "You can get 'em done here or do it over the weekend," he said. "I'd prefer you do it today since I'll be lookin' over the rest of the papers this mornin'."

Ennis walked over to a desk and sat down. "I'll do my best," he said, pulling a notebook out of his backpack. "What sorta topic were they?"

"The first one was just a recap of what you've learned so far," Jack said, a look in his eyes saying that Ennis knew he had learned so much more than the other students in the class. "You could probably just copy your notes and the notes we made together last week. Shouldn't be too difficult. The next one was about being honest with yourself. Admitting to certain feelings and talkin' yourself through it, so to speak. That it ain't wrong to have certain feelings." Ennis was starting to get the feeling that there wasn't a topic about that at all.

Ennis stared at his notebook for the longest time then sat back and looked up at Jack. "It's wrong for me to have certain feelings," Ennis said, surprised by the sudden boldness he felt. But he was comfortable enough around Jack to be brave enough to speak his thoughts. "The rest of this town'll tell ya the same thing."

"I'm not worried about the town," Jack said. "This is just about you. Why do you think it's wrong for you to have certain feelings? Is it because of your parents? You're old enough to have your own opinions."

"You don't understand this town like I do."

"And I don't really want to."

Ennis fell silent. Jack didn't pressure him into saying anything so it was a few minutes before he spoke again. "What happened ain't normal. We weren't made -"

"I was made to love whoever I want," Jack said. "Not sayin' that's what's happenin' here, but it's an example. We were made to do whatever the hell we want. To feel what we wanna feel."

"I don't want to feel this!"

"Because these people ingrained that into ya," Jack said. He stood and walked over to stand in front of Ennis's desk. "You don't find anything wrong with what your parents taught ya?"

"Why would I?"

"Because you keep comin' back here," Jack said. "To me."

Ennis looked away. "It's wrong," he said, but the more he said it, the more he started to believe something else. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't ignore what he felt. He also couldn't ignore the fact that he enjoyed those feelings. It made him feel a part of something that was more than this godforsaken town. "This class has just messed everything up."

Jack tapped on the notebook in front of Ennis. "Just think about it," he said. "I want the paper done by lunch." He checked the time then looked back at Ennis. "You better get started." He turned and walked back to the front of the room.

Ennis stared down at the notebook, his pencil hovering over the page. He stayed like that for a moment then dropped the pencil and looked at Jack. "At your hotel," he said, getting Jack's attention. "Did you do it to help me or just because you wanted to?" He had gone to Jack last week for a reason, but couldn't remember getting his problem resolved then because Jack had moved the conversation in a different direction.

"You were dealin' with a lot," Jack said. "I wanted to help you, but I'm not gonna lie and say I didn't want it. It wasn't rape, if that's what you're gettin' at."

"By trying to help, you've just made me more confused," Ennis said. "I see people lookin' at me funny like they know."

"That's just in your head."

"What if they do know?"

"If they did, do ya really think I'd still be here?" Jack asked. "I'd be run outta town or in jail somewhere. You're a minor, after all. It don't matter if you're almost eighteen. Or if it was with your consent."

The fact that he was still a minor was the last thing on Ennis's mind about this. "If people 'round here knew, it'd be worse than that," he said. His thoughts went back to his old neighbors Earl and Rich, wondering now if they had actually just been run out of town like his dad had told him. Knowing what his dad thought about homosexuality, it would explain why no one had seen Earl and Rich leave. Folks who had the same ideals as his dad would put a stop to those kinds of people and the possibility of that being true scared Ennis. "I can't risk that."

"You worried about them findin' out 'bout me?" Jack asked. "Or you?"

"It'd be the same outcome."

"I wouldn't let anyone hurt you."

"It'd just be best if we stopped."

Jack said nothing and just sat there.