Letter Stamps (Going Through Work)

A Pagsanjan Falls Stamp

  Teen Ike Bakker stood in the prep school music room with a guitar in one hand and a notebook in the other. He scanned the various instruments that laid in their cases and watched the sunlight caress the brass instruments. The cello sat resting against the wall next to the xylophone and cymbals. Various sheet music was lain across the tables and Tchaikovsky's Dance of the Swans stood in the directors' music stand.

Spotting an open chair Ike strode over to the velvet-cushioned seat and laid his guitar down. The dust rose slightly when wood came in contact with velvet, and the sunlight illuminated his prized instrument.

"Ike~"

Ike looked behind him to see two of girls from his home room, and they were waving flirtatiously at him from the door way.

"Hannah, Cara. What's shaking?"

The girls giggled at his little greeting before walking into the room, "Oh, you know....we were just on our way to the library and happened to see you all alone."

He raised an eyebrow at Hannah specifically who was leaning forward and wiggling her body slightly. He looked at her futile attempts to charm him and laughed.

"What does the two biggest female players want with a nobody?"

They seemed taken aback at his use of words, but they knew nonetheless he was right. They approached him, hands still behind their backs and the same sultry look on their faces.

"Have you heard? Hannah and I are the top two girls who have slept with nearly every guy in the school except you."

"We were wondering if you'd break the tie for us? We're kind of at an equal number right now..."

He shook his head, "Sorry ladies, but this rock hasn't exactly found his roll yet."

  The two girls looked at him and scowled, obviously angry that he turned them away. The angry silence led him to pack up his objects and attempt to leave, yet the two girls insisted on begging him to break the tie.

  "As I said, no. I'm saving my love for someone who is worthy of it, not for two women who throw their lust in men's faces and greedily prey on their love."

  The comment was enough to send the girls away with raging fury and dissatisfied moods, but Ike walked away from the band room and towards the exit. He had been in the mood to write a song, but his thoughts were just as clouded as his eyes.

* * * * *

  Ike stood in the last row of the theater, away from the stage and hidden in the shadows, and watched Na'jjan practice her play lines. She spoke with bold clarity and passion which brought her character to life. She cried out in feigned alarm before quickly turning on a song soundtrack. She pointed her foot forward and let her body move to the rhythm as her cold exterior seemed nonexistent to anyone who may watch. A warm smile spread from ear to ear as she sang along to the track and danced slightly, hopping here and there when the rhythm changed.

Ike watched in amazement as the young woman sang out along with the female vocalist in near perfect harmony. Her arms moved in majestic coordination with the music and her feet carried her step by step, beat by beat to one end of the stage to the other. She seemed free, weightless.

'She's nothing like the girls I've seen, you can't feign that emotion of freedom she has in her eyes' he thought to himself.

When the song stopped, she caught her breath and grinned like a child. Happiness was an emotion he had never seen Na'jjan express before in the 2 years he had gone to college with her. Anytime she was near him she seemed to scowl and act hostile, never letting him try to get to know her. He thought she was fascinating, a woman with true emotions, someone who didn't fake their way through life. The girls who followed him were nice, they seemed respectful and well-behaved, yet Ike never felt connections with them.

His plunge into thought was interrupted by the theater lights turning on and exposing him. Although he was in the back, it didn't take long for Na'jjan to notice his presence.

Ike expected ridicule, a scolding of some sort from the woman, but instead was met with a surprise.

She was blushing, unable to produce a sentence or even a sound as she stood wide-eyed. Her composure was nothing like it was before, and she seemed completely caught off-guard.

"Ike! Wha-what are you doing in here?"

"Just watching."

The awkward silence that lingered between them had settled as she hurriedly picked up her folder and backpack. Dumbfounded by her performance Ike said nothing as she sped-walk past him, offering only a small bow before leaving the theater.

'Get lost of join the theater....' he thought to himself.

'Join.....'

* * * * *