11 Regret 10 (Announcement of Result)

Reign's POV

Past 9 in the evening, the program is already ending. The first 3 contenders are lined up on stage, the rest are below, near the judges.

We are waiting for the announcement of winners. The crowd participates in the judgment. They already voted earlier through their smart phones. Link was given for them to cast their votes.

After a few minutes, the hosts already have the result. I'm still overwhelmed by how the crowd showed their feelings towards our performance earlier, so winning is just a bonus for me.

I look at the other bands. Some of them are excited, and others are obviously nervous.

"As explained before we started the competition, we will have 3 winners. The 2nd place, will get 50,000 pesos and a bronze trophe", the female host starts.

"The 1st place winner will get 75,000 pesos and a silver trophe", the male host continues.

"And the champion of the Battle of the Bands in the City tonight will get", the female host continues and pauses.

Then, both of them shouts," 100,000 pesos, a gold trophe, and back-and-forth plane tickets to Korea in their own time frame!"

Everybody in the venue gets excited, including me. I honestly forgot about the prizes that I stopped wishing to win. But now, I am back to praying for us to win.

"We will announce the 3rd place winner first", one of the hosts.

The crowd is gradually going silent.

"The 3rd place winner goes to.." the female host pauses.

The suspense comes rushing to everyone as one of the staffs plays the drum for a sound effect.

"REM Band!" both of them announces.

REM band doesn't have a shock or a happy expression on their faces. They are a bit disappointed. I guess they are aiming to win this competition.

They are coming up the stage to claim their prizes. I see Leo tapping James' arm, then gives me a smile as he passes us on stage.

After their pictorial, they exit at the other side of the stage.

"Now, we are going to announce the 1st placer", says the male host.

"Who is your bet?!" the female host shouts, then points her microphone to the audience' direction.

The crowd is in chaos. Some are shouting for the last contender's band, while some shouts for the second contender. And I also hear our band's name.

"Oh, I think I hear it, partner. Some of them are correct!" says the male host, and this adds spice to the chaos.

"Yes partner. But before we announce the 1st place, let us invite those 2 of their bets to join us here in the front stage", says the female host.

"Nice idea, partner! So, we are going to call the top 2 winners for tonight", the male host agrees. "So who is your bet again?" he adds.

The crowd shouts for their bets again.

"You are right! So please come forward, Democratic Band!" says the female host.

Everyone of us is shocked. Nobody is stepping in front.

"Were we really called?" Owen asks the group in disbelief.

It's only Neil who is stepping forward and when we get to realize what's happening now, we then follow.

"Oh yeah, we are just one of their bets. It's not that we are the winner", Owen murmurs but we can hear it.

"Hey, are you kidding? You're not getting it! They said earlier that they are going to call the top 2", says James to Owen.

"Wait, what? Does that mean we are on top 2?" Owen.

"Wow.." this is the only thing I could say.

Never did I expect this. And now, we're one of the winners.

"Now, who's your other bet again?! Right! Come on stage, Thundertroupe Band!" the male host shouts.

They are the last contender and is so wild on stage. I saw some of their videos before. They go around the Philippines to perform. But I don't like their genre. It's so wild that they shout most of the time. I feel that their shouts are unnecessary unlike Linkin Park's. But they are famous, indeed.

"It's impossible for us to be the champion, right?" Owen is shaking.

"I feel so too", Kyle finally speaks out.

Neil and Jack remain silent. That's them, being them.

"So, we are going to announce the 1st placer, and the band which is not called is of course, our champion", informs the female host.

The crowd shares their silence with each other.

"But before that, let me just show our greatest appreciation to the sponsors for the last time", the male host inserts.

The crowd is disappointed. Surely, they are eager to know the result than us.

After announcing and thanking the long list of sponsors, the male host opens his copy of the result.

"Okay! Are you ready?" he asks.

The crowd goes wild again.

"Without much ado, the 1st place winner is... Thundertroupe Band!" the male host announces.

The crowd is on their wildest.

"Congratulations, Democratic Band! You are the Battle of the Bands in the City Champion for this year!" the female host afterward announces.

I see some of the crowd jumping and cheering for us. Some are just clapping with smiles on their faces. The other bands are facing us, clapping professionally.

Some of the regular winners in the past did not get it for this year's battle so it is expected for their other members to be dismayed.

"What just happened?" I ask myself.

When I look at my bandmates, they are hugging each other.

"Reign, come on! What are you doing?!" James drags me near them who are already at the center front stage, claiming our prizes.

I have not noticed that the 1st placer is already done claiming their prizes and taking pictures.

Wh-what's happening?! I ask myself.

After the pictorial, we are tasked to play our finale song again.

We're now playing "How Do We Love", a painful song but this time, we're partly singing it with happiness in our hearts.

I look at Neil. It's evident that he's happy. But most of the times, he is expressing the song's emotion. He might be feeling that he should be in pain cause the song is indeed painful. He's that passionate.

"How do we love?

Should we always be in pain?

It's me who is always crying.

I just wanna leave now.

How do we love

Should it be so painful?

It shouldn't be.

But I can't leave now", we are singing with the crowd.

Then, we look at each other as we are going to exchange lines.

"It's me who is always crying", I sing my line which is so true to me.

I do cry because of this hopeless feelings I have for Neil. But he doesn't know I cry. He doesn't know..

"Everything's always impossible", he sings his line with evident pain on his face.

And everytime he does that, I feel the urge to comfort him. To hug him. To kiss him..

"It's me who is always crying", I repeat.

Pain is tearing me apart again.

"Everything's always impossible", he also repeats his part, almost tearing.

How come he's an expert in expressing that kind of pain when his relationship with Leila is almost perfect?

Then, we both sing the last line, "But I can't leave."

Yeah.. I'm trapped. I have tried to free myself from this pain, but can't. So, I guess I just have to be used to it.

Tears are falling down my cheeks. If somebody would ask me why I'm crying, I wouldn't even know what to say. My emotions now are so mixed up.

Gladly, no one is asking. Everyone who sees me crying might have thought it's only because we won.