Father Jennings frowned as he looked at the young boy sitting on the other side of his desk. Eli was a skinny boy with a chiseled features in his face and hands. The pale face had hollowed-out-checks, and the huge, dark, beautiful eyes had dark rings under them. Eli looked nervously here and there, and kept biting his chewed-down fingernails. You didn't need to be Freud to tell that there was something seriously wrong with young Eli.
"I've watched you in my class," said father Jennings. "And I've seen you in the hallways and in the library. You don't look very well, Eli. What's wrong?"
"I have problem sleeping," said Eli.
"Why is that?" said father Jennings. "Are you nervous about something?"
Eli nodded.
"Won't you tell me?" the young priest asked him kindly.
Eli shook his head.
"It's too horrible," he said.
"Perhaps I can help you?" said father Jennings.
"No!" said Eli. "No-one can help me!"
His shoulders drooped miserly.
"I wish I had never been born!" he said.
"Now, now..." said father Jennings. "What is troubling you this much?"
"I've done something terrible," said Eli. "Something sinful and WRONG! I'm afraid to go to confession, because if anyone finds out, I'm sure I'll be expelled from school!"
"Eli, haven't you read your bible?" said father Jennings. "Whatever sins we commit, God forgives us. He loves us. If he can forgive you, why wouldn't the school forgive you? Now... do you want to confess your sins to me?"
Eli hesitated, then nodded rapidly.
"Bless me father, for I have sinned," he mumbled.
"Tell me about your sin," said father Jennings.
Eli took a deep breath.
"It began about 3 months ago," he began. "I... I fell in love with someone."
Father Jennings raised his eye-brows. The boys at St. Paul's school for boys didn't leave the school grounds very often, other than when they went home for holidays or went on a guided trip to some landmark, and at the latter they were heavily guarded by one or two extra priests. When had young Eli had the chance to sneak off to meet a girl to fall in love with?
"I haven't been able to eat or sleep," said Eli. "I have just been thinking about... this person. All the time. In class... at night... And then, last Thursday..."
He took another deep breath to calm himself down.
"What happened last Thursday, Eli?" said father Jennings.
"I was in my bed..." said Eli. The others had fallen asleep. I kept thinking about this person that I'm in love with, and I thought about what I'd like to do with... with this person."
Eli blushed, and couldn't get another word out.
"Did you want to... make love to this girl?" said father Jennings.
Eli nodded.
"And did you... do anything, with your hands, while you were thinking about this?" said father Jennings.
Eli nodded, and the young priest saw tears forcing themselves out of the young boy's eyes. He got to his feet and walked around the desk. He sat down on the desk, and put a hand on Eli's shoulder.
"These feelings are quite normal," he said. "You are 18, you're leaving your childhood behind you and becoming a man. There's nothing wrong about a young man developing an interest in young women!"
Eli sighed hopelessly.
"Though, the church does believe it better to save oneself for marriage," father Jennings continued. "Next time you feel... in a loving mood, perhaps you could distract yourself by reading, or...
"You don't understand, father!" Eli interrupted him, hiding his face in his hands. "It's not..."
"It's not... what, Eli?" said father Jennings.
"It's not a woman," said Eli.
He burst into tears, and father Jennings impulsively pulled the boy into his arms, and held him until he stopped crying.
"The catholic church frowns upon homosexuality," said father Jennings quietly into Eli's hair. "As does the society in large. I, on the other hand, believe that God loves us no matter what we do or whom we love. God is kind and wants us to be happy. I don't think that he would give us the ability to love someone of our own gender, if he thought it was wrong."
Eli looked up at him, with a faint hope in his face.
"You really think so?" he asked.
Father Jennings nodded.
"That's what I comforted myself with during my youth," he said.
"What... do you mean?" said Eli.
Father Jennings leaned back and smiled at him.