Swan Song for an Ugly Duckling — Michael Murphy

Aaron and Josh come from extraordinarily different backgrounds in small town America. Aaron is the only child of a fundamentalist preacher who fears and condemns the ways of the world outside their community. Josh is a jock who can only seem to express the feelings Aaron stirs in him by tormenting Aaron about how he looks and dresses. But one day, Josh's world is turned upside down by a simple sentence spoken by Aaron, and he decides to get closer to Aaron. Aaron assumes it is a new form of torture, but Josh persists: first a ride home, then talking with Aaron while he does his afternoon farm chores. Then Josh persuades Aaron's father to let him participate in a scholastic event out of town one weekend. Josh pays a huge price for Aaron to attend, but that one weekend persuades Aaron to get free of his parents and attend college. College doesn't solve all their problems, though. Josh is horrified when a senior on campus seduces Aaron. He can't believe Aaron has always been gay and he missed it―and missed getting to be Aaron's first. But when Aaron finds out his boyfriend isn't faithful, things go from tense to worse.