All American Boys

Chapter 1: The Virgin of Bethlehem

Stars of Bethlehem -I never really understood why Alicia loved them so much. She'd pick them whenever she saw them and pressed them between the pages of her French dictionary. Once they were brittle, papery frames of their former selves, she'd laminate them and place them everywhere, from her journals to her textbooks. She had pinned a few of them up on her corkboard, and she even embroidered their likeness onto her favourite denim jacket. Whenever I had to clean her room, I was bound to find one of them somewhere, all dried up, the petals brittle and dry.

But I wouldn't fault her. Those stars, even though every sip of life had seeped out of their petals, never ceased to be beautiful. There was just something so enchanting about them when they were dry and half translucent, the petals so delicate and fragile where one wrong slip of the finger could tear them apart. After all, dead stars were far more alluring.

I guess the live ones had to suffice for now. I looked down at them, arranged in a bouquet I bought from the florist. I had ordered it specially for her. Even alive, the flowers were still gorgeous. It had an ephemeral quality to it, the fresh dewy blossoms nearing the ends of their lives, ready to rot. I wondered if they knew they were going to die. Or were they already dead? But for now, they bask in their beauty.

You think too much, Alex. Maybe that's why no one likes you.

Heaving a sigh, I leaned against the bench. I'm sure she'd love them either way. Dead or alive. Brittle or blooming.

"If it isn't Alex."

My heart thumped at that familiar voice. Not even wasting a second, I turned around to face him. I tried not to look too excited, but it was hard when I haven't seen him in months. He stood there in an olive hoodie, his brown hair shorter than it used to be, his grey-blue eyes smiling as much as his lips.

"Oh, Hayden!" I said out loud, nearly tossing the bouquet onto the bench. "It's so great to see you again."

He took a step towards me, his arms wide open. I nearly collapsed into him, and we embraced. His grip was tight, while my hands were merely touching his back. I could smell the faint traces of his cologne as my heart thumped in my chest and an embarrassing warmth crept to my cheek.

"Woah there, you alright?" Hayden asked me after we parted, his tone concerned. "You're all red. Sorry if I hugged you too tight."

"Well," I said chuckling nervously. "Your grip had always been bone crushing."

That, and the fact that I was exhausted.

Hayden laughed as he scratched the back of his head.

"Heh," he replied. "Yeah, I guess I've got to kick that habit. But you know, I've always been a wrestler."

"You've always been good at whatever you did," I said, trying to hide how nervous I was.

Come on Alex, you've literally known him for years. Get a grip.

The young man looked over my shoulder at the bench.

"Are you waiting for a date or something?" he asked, pointing towards the bouquet I left on the bench. "Sorry if you're in the middle of something. Wonder who's the lucky girl?"

"N-No," I muttered. "Well actually, yeah. Not a date but -I -uh"

Hayden raised an eyebrow, a gentle smile on his lips. He seemed to want to ask me if there was anything wrong, but was probably too polite to say anything.

"They're for my sister," I finally managed to blurt out.

The smile on his lips faded as his eyes wandered towards the ground. There was a heavy, pregnant silence between us.

"Right," he said, his voice softer, with a deeper mellow tone to it. "Today's the day isn't it?"

"Yeah," I replied, biting my lip. " It's been a long time hasn't it? I'm sure she misses you."

"Well I miss her too," he muttered. "I think about her all the time."

I could only smile. Maybe I should've lied. Maybe I should've just told him that I was waiting for some girl. I felt bad for bringing Alicia up, especially at a time like this.

"So," Hayden said after a while. "You're taking the bus?

I only nodded.

"I would've driven," I shrugged. "But my car is in the workshop right now."

"Anyway," he said. "Why don't we take my car instead? The bus takes forever. Don't want to keep her waiting, you know?"

"No, please," I tried to reject his offer. "You only just got here, please don't trouble yourself."

"Hey kiddo," he chuckled. "It's totally fine. It's already been a while since I last saw you two. It'll be nice to spend some time together."

I could only agree.

"You're driving now?" he remarked as we made our way to his car. "Man, you kids grow up so fast. How old are you again?"

"Almost eighteen," I told him. "I know, I know, I'm ancient."

Hayden chuckled.

"You're in the same year as Isaac then," he said. "Alicia told me that, but I keep forgetting."

"I'm sure you have more important things to remember anyway," I replied. "I mean, I'm not the most interesting person. And I'm sure you're already so busy in the military."

We reached the car, that red mustang I had seen pull up to school so many times, music blaring from the speakers. I almost winced thinking about it, but I held myself back. I didn't want to appear rude.

"Does your brother use your car now?" I asked. "He drives to school in it sometimes."

"Well," he replied, as we both got in. "He can use it when I'm not around. But now that I'm back, I guess he can use his own. Or the bus."

Well, good. I wouldn't miss the loud obnoxious screeching of his car tires when I was trying to park. It's not that I didn't like Isaac, I just felt like he was a danger to society. His driving was. . .reckless to say the least.

"Anyway," I said. "How long are you back for? You always seem to whisk away the moment you come back to Bethlehem."

"For a few months," he told me. "I'm training at the naval base not too far from here, so I can drop by here quite often. I miss this place so much. Seen a lot of places but nothing beats home."

"I've always thought it was just a boring town." I laughed. "But you've been to many places and seen a lot of things, so I'm just gonna trust your opinion on that one."

Hayden smiled as we stopped at a red light.

"You know," he said, beaming a smile at me. "You always know what to say. Just like your sister."

"I-I do?" I blurted out.

Hayden only laughed, his eyes focused on the road. From the passenger seat, I couldn't help but admire his side profile in the golden afternoon light. I took in all his features as I sat there, stealing glances to not make it seem so obvious. He was so breathtaking, from his brown hair parted to the side to his chiselled jawline. His nose was perfect, and I couldn't help but notice the mole near the right side of his lips, how it moved when he smiled and beamed. I could feel my heart racing.

I didn't know when my feelings for him began. He was so nice to me, and his laugh made me feel all warm inside. Well, we had known each other for quite some time from church, but Alicia was what really brought Hayden into my life. When he was in college he'd come over from the holidays and we'd hang out, the three of us. I feel guilty to admit it, but honestly I was jealous of my sister. She had the most amazing boyfriend in the world, and they always looked so lovely together. I remembered watching a movie together with the two of them, and seeing him hold Alicia on the couch, his arm over her shoulder made me wish it was me instead. I wondered how he'll react when he found out how I really felt about him.

"Actually I have something to ask of you." Hayden suddenly broke the silence.

What is it?" I asked, my heart skipping a beat.

"It's about my brother," he finally said. "You know. . . Ever since his injury he won't be able to play football in a while, and that means he's probably not going to ever get a football scholarship since the season will be over by the time he even gets back on the field, and he'll miss all the scouts."

"What about him?" I continued.

"I was hoping you could help him with his grades," he told me. "He's not really doing that well in school. If he can't get into a good school without sports then he'll have to rely on his academics which honestly aren't that good."

"I see," I told him.

"And besides," he continued. "You're a good kid. I need someone to look out for him and be a good influence in his life. I can't be there for him all the time, and I'm just worried about him, you know?"

I bit my lip, hesitating. Isaac Anderson, that popular, boisterous jock needed babysitting? I guess he was more of a child than I ever realised.

"Look," he said again, noticing my silence. "I'm sorry if it's too much to ask, but you're the only one I can trust with this in this town. Isaac is a nice kid, he just mixes with the wrong people. Yeah, I get it if you don't like those rowdy popular kid types but I'm begging you, man. And besides, he's actually a very nice kid."

I raised an eyebrow.

"He's gotten pretty quiet ever since the whole thing happened," he further explained. "It's not just his grades I'm worried about. And knowing his friends, they're not really the kinds you'd want around you for support. I mean, he's always needed support, but now more than ever, I really think he needs a friend."

"Fine," I told him. "Since you asked so nicely."

"You'll warm up to him," he assured me. "Well I'll just text him that I found someone from his school to tutor him and you can just meet him when school starts."

"So do you want me to tutor him or do you want me to babysit him?"

"Well, both actually." Hayden laughed. "But I was thinking more of you and my brother being friends."

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I'll do what I can."

"Great!" he said. "I knew I could count on you."

Looking outside to make sure he didn't see my face, I felt my lips curl up into a smile. It was so nice to hear him say those words. Even if he could never be mine, making him happy was more than enough for me.

It wasn't long before we reached our destination. As we pulled up into the parking lot, I looked down once more at the bouquet of small white flowers in my hands. I was sure that she was going to like them. Why wouldn't she? It's probably been so long since she got them. The two of us got out of the car and started walking down the winding stone path, lined by large linden trees, shading us both under the foliage.

"Actually," I said as we walked. "I think you should be the one to give her this."

"Thanks," he muttered as he took the flowers from me.

We walked for a while until we finally reached her. She was waiting for us at the far end with the cast iron fence right behind her, as pristine and beautiful as ever. 

I looked around, there was no one watching us, which was a relief.

There we were, the two of us standing before my sister. I took a deep breath and smiled. It certainly has been a while.

"Hey there beautiful," Hayden said, placing the bouquet right on the lush green grass. "I missed you so much."

I watched him as he took a step forward and leaned in and placed a hand on the elaborate sculpture. A statue of the Virgin rose from the stone base, holding a bouquet of flowers, each with their tiny, pointed petals. The same flowers Hayden had just placed in front of her. 

It reminded me so much of her, even the statue looked a bit like Alicia. Or perhaps was it intentionally made that way?

"You doing alright?" he asked again as he stepped back and joined me again by my side. "I'm sorry I've been really busy."

It had been a while since I visited Alicia. The statue was lovely, but it couldn't replace her. Hayden had it built, despite my mother's protest. There wasn't even a name etched onto the side. The only thing that reminded us that a body was buried underneath was a small inscription on a golden plate.

The Virgin.

Surrounding the base of the gravestone were short well-trimmed bushes, with pale pink flowers. I didn't know what they were, but I certainly don't remember them being there the last time I visited. I felt the urge to ask Hayden about them, but I didn't want to ruin the mood.

It was then when he suddenly turned to me, a bright red flush on his cheeks.

"You must think I'm some sort of weirdo, right?" he asked with a nervous chuckle.

"Nah," I told him, looking into his grey-blue eyes. "I do that too sometimes."

"Really?" he asked, raising his eyebrow, but our gazes still remained locked. "That's sweet."

I could feel my heart thumping in my chest, my heartbeat getting stronger and faster. To my relief, he turned away at last, facing the grave again. I did so as well, I couldn't face him. Especially given how I'd react when he looked at me with his eyes.

But something didn't feel right. My heart was still beating fast and I had butterflies in my stomach. It took me a while to realise it, but that was probably because of how distracted I was. My left palm felt warm, but it never really registered in my mind until I saw it with my own two eyes.

My hand was wrapped tightly in his, our fingers intertwined.