Helena’s P.O.V.

I was no longer in the mood to attend the next class, that was why I called Ricardo to fetch me up. Since it was the last subject and it was just the second day of the school year, I guessed I could still skip my class. In fact, I could skip classes whenever I wanted, and no one could ever stop me! Now boarded in our limo, our family driver in his mid-fifties was taking me home.

I should not have said those things to that freak guy! Oh, what was his name again? All I could remember was his surname, and that was Rivera. But do I have a choice? He creeped me out while following around like a damn stalker!

Why wouldn’t he just leave me alone? Was it his first time to see a gorgeous teenager like me? Anyway, I did not want to be friends with whoever because I already learned my lessons well.

Even at my former school, my classmates would not do anything aside from bullying me. I did not know what kind of happiness they attained whenever they were telling me hurtful words such as teacher’s pet and strawberry.

Hmm, a nicer term for bloodsucker? Suit themselves! For them, I was nothing but a threat—a threat to whoever wanted to get the valedictorian title.

I rolled my eyes. As if I care with those damn scumbags and ugly bitches!

But those would not ever happen if only Helena and I were able to avoid that accident. The accident that was still haunting me up to this moment.

Yes, all those bullying and criticisms that I had to endure for one year were for the real Helena. I was, I am, and I will always be Athena Cari Delgado… and Helena Mari Delgado was my identical twin sister.

We did not have any differences when it came to our physical appearances. With our five feet and six inches height, rosy-white skin, not-so-round eyes, naturally red lips, chestnut-brown hair, and its maintained length up to our bra-line area? All were just the same. We also shared the same eye color, green, which we inherited from our pure Spanish mommy.

Helena was just wearing a pair of eyeglasses because she had conditions such as Computer Vision Syndrome1 and Astigmatism2. If not, you would not be able to find out who was Helena and who was Athena. But I guessed, those were in terms of physical items only.

When it came to attitude, she was way far better than me. As in super far that it even reached the planet Mars! She was and would always be kinder than me. She was almost perfect—thoughtful, smart, sensible… and me?

Well, who cared about me? I was just the fabulous and richer version of the word bitch! Outgoing, extrovert, and rebellious… but I must say… pretty and gorgeous bitch!

We were still young when our mother left us but even though Mom was still alive, Daddy had always been in favor of Helena. She was so smart to the point that she always got the top rank… and me? Oh! Like Helena, I was also consistent to be on top!

Daddy’s top pain of the ass!

I was the number one cause of his non-stop headache. For him, I was nothing but always the black sheep. In his eyes, I had never done anything right and all I did was wrong! I was his daughter he could never, ever, be presented to his comrades and business partners. A daughter he could never be proud of.

But despite everything, I never grew jealous of Helena. Even though I was almost on the verge of being envious of how Daddy would favor her in everything considering the fact that we were twins, I never let resentfulness ate my heart out. We remained as best friends although she was, she is, and she would always be Daddy’s favorite.

She always wanted our father to give the same attention to me. But the truth was… I did not care anymore! It just came to a point that I would never bother or please him to accept me. Time would just run out if I would still push myself while telling him, “Hey, Daddy! I’m also your daughter so please accept me!”

The crow would turn white but Daddy accepting me would never happen. Anyway, I had already given up my chances in our father-daughter relationship. If he loathed me for a reason I did not understand until now, then so be it. End of story.

But everything had changed when that dreadful accident happened, fourteen months ago…

We were on our way to Las Albas for vacation and summer excursion. It was also our Dad’s treat to Helena for getting the highest rank again. As usual, Helena was at the front seat beside our Daddy. Me? Nothing new. I was always in the back seat—already used to it.

“Athena, can you move here in front? I wanted to lay down to sleep, you know that I can’t sleep here.” Helena pretended to be sleepy when we were at the stop-over. She even accompanied it with a loud yawn. “Pretty please?” My twin even winked at me—a signal that she wanted Daddy and me to get close again.

I just sighed. How could I say no to her?

Daddy did not utter a single word although based on his neutral expression, I knew that he does not want Helena and me to switch our seats. But since her favorite daughter already went out of the car and pushed me to take her original seat, I did not have any other choice but moved to the front seat and wore a seatbelt.

“Helena, hija… you have to be careful, okay? Do not lay down so you can still wear your seatbelt, take a good nap.” Dad anxiously reminded Helena before he started the car again. He did not even mind me.

It’s just fine, Athena. Don’t mind him as well! I silently told myself, almost patting my back for self-comfort.

Sometimes, though I tried not to be affected by how Daddy treated Helena, I could not help myself to be sad knowing that even in my dreams, he could never give that same attention to me. The way how he treated Helena as his princess like she was the only one who exists? It was hard but I already used to suppress my envy.

Even though I was born to be a bad girl, I always reminded myself not to be jealous of her. She was my twin sister and God knew how much I loved her.

And for her, I was so willing and more than willing to sacrifice.

I pretended to enjoy the tranquility of our trip. Dad did not pay any attention to me throughout, so I just covered my ears with my Bluetooth headset. I enjoyed listening to my playlist and the music was raucous enough that up to the middle of his drive, I could say that everything went fine.

Helena fell asleep in the back seat, but she was lying down without any seatbelt. Due to how many times Daddy turned his head to actually check on her and as if the rearview mirror was not enough, he did not notice a huge and rushing truck opposite our way.

“Daddy!” I screamed out of chaos, but it was all too late.

Everything escalated too fast. The last thing I knew was… we bumped against the truck and due to the collision and heavy impact, our car broke down and fell into the cliff right in an instant.

Dad immediately gained back his strength just within one month of his confinement, while I was in a state of comatose for two months. But the most heartbreaking part was… Helena did not survive!

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. My throat began to shrink as a pang of pain stabbed my chest. I could not help but shed a tear in my left eye while still reminiscing what happened…

I woke up only to find Daddy sleeping soundly beside me. He was sitting on a small chair and his not fully bandaged head was buried in my bed. There were still some little marks of blood on his bandage. I slowly touched his hand and he soon awakened.

“Helena, hija! Thank God, you’re alive!” He immediately reached out for my head and neck to check on me as the intensity of his concern was overwhelming. “Are you okay? Does anything hurt, princess? Wait, I’ll just call the doctor!” He was about to rush outside and leave when I grabbed his left wrist to stop him.

“Dad… I… I am… not H-Helena. I am A-Athena,” I managed to tell him even though it was really hard for me.

It was like I did not have any strength to even say those few words… not because I couldn’t, but because he already assumed that I was his favorite daughter… when I was clearly not.

I wanted to deny the feeling but that was what really hurts. It was hurting me more than the scars and fractures I had already endured.

But enough of me, where is she?

I did not know why, but the expression on his face seemed to change when he heard that I was Athena. “No, hija! You’re just hallucinating! It might be the effect of the accident but you’re Helena, okay? I’m sorry to tell you this, but Athena is dead.”

I thought, there was nothing new about how I would feel. I thought that I was already used to feeling the misery brought by his not equal treatment to us. I thought I was fine every time he would make me feel like Helena was his only princess… but what he just said gave too much mental and emotional suffering I didn’t know if I could still bear.

Why does it feel like it was just nothing for him to easily say the words, ‘Athena is dead?’ I could feel my heart stopped from beating. I tried to hold back my tears from falling but those already welled up my eyes. I would rather choose Dad to take a knife straight to my skin than speak those words so cold as ice.

But if he were telling me that I died, would that mean… Helena died?

“No, Dad! Listen to me, I am Athena—the black sheep of the family and your rebellious daughter. Yes, we were identical, but you knew right from the start that we were different when it comes to attitude. Dad, I am Athena, and I am not just hallucinating! I know who I am and I’m one hundred percent sure that I’m not Helena!”

I did not know where I got the audacity to deliver those words. I could no longer control my impulse anymore. I still tried to resist my tears from falling but it already streamed down my face. How I wished that everything was just a nightmare. It was ironic, but I was torn between fighting for my own identity and mourning over the loss of my twin.

Daddy was about to speak when the doctor came followed by the two nurses. The doctor started to check my heartbeats, then, my eyes. He removed my bandage to check what I thought was a head wound and instructed the female nurse to replace it. The male nurse, on the other hand, injected something into my veins to help me calm down.

After that, the doctor introduced himself as Dr. Kim. He asked for my name and if I could still remember all the details before the accident happened.

“I’m Athena Cari Delgado, Doc. I was seated at the front seat with our father while my twin sister, Helena Mari Delgado, was sleeping at the back—” but I wasn’t yet done with my statement when Daddy cut me off.

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1Computer vision syndrome (CVS) is a condition resulting from focusing the eyes on a computer or other display device for protracted, uninterrupted periods, and the eye muscles being unable to recover from the constant tension required to maintain focus on a close object.

2Astigmatism is a common and generally treatable imperfection in the curvature of your eye that causes blurred distance and near vision. Astigmatism occurs when either the front surface of your eye (cornea) or the lens, inside your eye, has mismatched curves.