CHAPTER ELEVEN

WHILE BLUE WAS singing in front of Katleya, the girl couldn’t stop herself from locking eyes with his intense gaze. She clutched her chest, startled by a strange feeling in her heart. It was pounding rapidly—as if, like an instrument, it had lost its rhythm. She took a deep breath, straightened her posture, and forced herself to calm down.

When Blue—whom everyone thought was Red—finished performing, his charm and talent left the crowd swooning. The audience was truly impressed.

“Thank you!” Blue shouted.

As he stepped off the stage, he was immediately greeted by a tight hug from Red. Blue smiled, overjoyed that he had successfully performed the song.

“You were amazing, Blue!” Red praised.

“I’m supposed to be Red, remember?” Blue reminded him with a grin.

Red pulled away from the hug. “Right. Still! I’m so proud of you.”

“Congrats, Blue! You were such a flirt up there,” Grey said, walking up to tease him.

“You said it,” Green agreed with a chuckle.

“It was part of the presentation, okay?” Blue replied. He looked at Red. “We can switch back now.”

“Okay. I kinda missed being myself,” Red said as he took off the red necktie and handed it to Blue.

“You missed being yourself? That face of yours,” Blue teased.

They both removed the makeup disguising their identities. Finally, they were free to move without pretending.

A few minutes later, the top four candidates were announced—and Katleya was among them. She also won Best in Talent, having thoroughly impressed the judges with her dance performance.

The group of friends was called up to present flowers to the winners.

As they stepped onto the stage, an earth-shaking scream echoed throughout the gymnasium. The audience was completely overwhelmed with excitement.

“Blue,” the emcee called out.

He turned toward her. “Yes?”

“Come here,” the emcee said. Blue walked over. He placed a hand on his shoulder. “Say hi to your schoolmates.”

Blue took the microphone. “That’s all?” He faced the crowd. “Hi, everyone! Did you all have fun?”

“Sample! Sample! Sample!” the audience chanted.

“They want a sample, Blue,” said the emcee.

Blue pouted in thought. “W-Wait. What do you guys want to hear?” Then he smiled as something came to mind. “I got it!” He looked at the DJ. “Hey, do you have Twerk It Like Miley by Brandon Beal?”

The whole crowd burst into laughter. They all knew that was the background music from his leaked scandal video.

The music began to play, and Blue started dancing. The crowd screamed even louder at his performance. Even though he wasn’t the best dancer, his presence and charisma were undeniably magnetic—especially to the girls.

He stopped mid-performance, panting. “That’s enough! I’m out of breath!”

“Thank you, Blue! That was insane. You made everyone swoon,” the emcee said, placing a hand over her chest. “Even me.”

“Thanks,” he replied.

Blue returned to where his friends were standing. It was time to announce the winners. Green handed flowers to the third runner-up, Grey to the second, Blue to the first runner-up, and Red to the newly crowned Miss Montenegro—Katleya Yellownora Marie C. Quizo.

Red handed the flowers to Katleya.

“Thank you,” the girl said softly.

The young man simply nodded, offering no smile or congratulations. Instead of feeling disheartened by Red’s cold demeanor, Katleya felt butterflies. She had been intrigued by him ever since their eyes met earlier backstage. The electricity they felt when their hands touched only intensified her admiration. Hearing ‘Red’ sing had deepened it even further.

The crowd eventually began to disperse after the pageant. Blue approached his mother.

“Mom, are you heading home?” Blue asked.

“We’ll talk at home,” Crezelda answered coldly before turning and walking away.

Blue stood frozen, confused and wondering what he had done to upset her again.

Red arrived. “Where’s Mom?”

“She went home,” Blue answered faintly.

“What’s wrong with you?” Red asked, concerned. He cupped his twin’s face. “Tell me.”

Blue tried to hold in his sobs, but he couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

“I’m tired. I’m so, so, so, so tired. I don’t want this anymore. I’ve had enough.”

“Blue, you’re scaring me. What happened?” Red asked, panicked.

Grey and Green ran over when they saw Blue crying.

“Red? What’s going on here?” Green asked.

“Who keeps making our baby Blue cry? Sorry to say this, Red, but I bet your mom is behind this again,” Grey added.

“I’m heading out,” Blue said softly.

“Blue!” Red called after him.

“Don’t worry. I won’t throw my life away. Pula, you should go home too.”

***

AS SOON AS Blue entered their house, he was immediately met with a slap from Crezelda. He clutched his cheek, stunned by the pain, and bowed his head in silence.

“What? Don’t you have anything to say?!” Crezelda shouted.

Zander arrived—he had just gotten home from their company.

He looked at Blue. “What did you do this time, you brat?!”

Blue glanced at his father with a bitter smile. “I don’t know, sir. I can’t even recall doing anything wrong.”

“Blue, I only asked one thing from you—just once—and you couldn’t even grant that! Then you had the audacity to humiliate me by dancing to that damn song!” Crezelda yelled.

Red came running over, having just arrived as well. “Mom? What is this again?!”

“Your useless twin!” Crezelda snapped. “I asked him—just once—to sing, and he refused! Then he went and danced to the background music of his own s*x scandal!”

“That’s it? That’s why you’re mad? That’s such a shallow reason to hurt your own child!” Red shouted, wrapping his arms around his softly sobbing twin. “I’m here. Don’t worry.”

“Watch your mouth, Redrigo!” Zander growled.

“I’m just telling the truth! The two of you are too much! You always hurt my twin!” Red shouted back. Zander slapped him hard.

“Please stop!” Blue cried.

Now Red was crying too. “Mom, are you really our mother? Did you even know that it was Blue who sang on stage earlier? Why am I even asking? You clearly know nothing about him!”

Red was slapped again, this time even harder. He held his face and bore the pain.

He continued, “You gave birth to him, but you were never real parents to him!”

“Redrigo!” Zander barked. His eyes blazed with fury.

Blue just cried silently in a corner, watching his family tear each other apart.

“This pain I’m feeling now,” Red said, wiping his tears, “Is nothing compared to what my twin feels every day.”

“Do you even know, Mom, Dad?” he went on. “Half of the certificates under my name—Blue was the one who earned them! But I took the credit. Again, it was all mine! And you didn’t know, do you? Because you never cared about his life. You don’t know how brilliant he is. How kind he is. How talented he is! All you ever see are his mistakes! I don’t even blame him anymore for how he acts around you. Because you his parents—you made him that way!”

Zander threw a punch and Red collapsed to the floor. Blue rushed to his brother’s side and helped him up. The twins cried in each other’s arms.

Red looked up at their parents once more, tears streaming down his face. “What did Blue ever do to you? He’s such a good person! A good brother! So why do you treat him like this?”

Crezelda moved toward her sons, trembling with fury, hands clenched, ready to strike. She looked like she was about to explode.

“You really want to know?” she asked, her voice filled with menace.

“Crezelda, don’t!” Zander shouted. He turned to the twins. “Go upstairs now!”

Red shot his parents a sharp look before pulling Blue with him toward the stairs.

“What did she mean, Red? What did I do wrong?” Blue asked softly.

“Don’t think about it anymore. Don’t cry. It hurts me to see you like this,” Red said.

Blue nodded and tried to calm himself down. In that moment, he couldn’t help but wonder what exactly he had done to deserve the way he had been treated all his life.