Kendra jotted a few more things down. She seemed to be busy as a bee writing away in her little notepad. The handwriting was sloppy and doodled in the margins were odd drawings here and there. There was a drawing of a horse galloping through a meadow and a scribble of a cat sliding down a rainbow. Kendra was so, the distractible type. 

Kendra knew the questions would get harder, more personal.  If she wanted to write a good article though she couldn't shy away from painful questions.  It was the questions that hurt the most that had the most meaning.  They were the questions that painted the best picture of who you were as a person.  Kendra didn't want to offend Derek.  She liked Derek.  She also knew that she had to ask him a few things that he may not want to talk about.

Setting her pencil down for a second Kendra grabbed a few mugs from her desk drawer.  Kendra filled them both with coffee and handed one to  Derek.  There was a mini fridge beside her desk she kept creamer in there.  Pulling it out she sweetened her coffee so it wasn't bitter against her sweet pallet.  "Have you ever been discriminated gainst cus'o your mutation?" She asked handing Derek the coffee.

Kendra's face pulled slightly into a frown.  She didn't want to wade through his painful memories.  She didn't want to dig up old wounds and make them fresh again.  She could remember more than a few instances of mutant hatred of her own.  Growing up in the south where god was everywhere and they hated that evolution was even taught in school despite it clearly being real.... After all mutants were real, that was evolution.  God fearing simpletons lashed out against things that didn't fit neatly into their little bubbles. 

Kendra took the warm cup in her hands and blew on it lightly to cool it.  She twitched her nose like a rabbit.  It was a nervous habit she couldn't control when she was anxious  "What made you wanta  come to the mansion and seek out other mutants?  Was it hard for your family to accept your mutation? To accept the fact that you were gay?"  Kendra knew a little about that too.  She had a healthy attraction to both men and women, though she had never shared that with her father.  She didn't need to give him more reason to despise her.  Kendra knew that it was one more controversy that they had to overcome... Coming to terms with a sense of identity.  Being a mutant, being gay.  Just being different in general. 

"Aw, thank you," Derek took the mug from Kendra with a smile. He placed the cup in his lap and ran his thumb along the rim of the cup. He grabbed five creamers and seven sugars and began to dump the packets and little cubs of sweetener and soother in. He then grabbed the spoon and started to stir until he felt that it was well blended.

At Kendra's third question, Derek paused. He stayed quiet for a while before answering, "no and I say that because I don't have any physical mutations. If I had enlarged canines, orange eyes, and sharpened claws, then yeah, I would. It's the south. Discrimination is just somethin' that goes on there. In the major cities like Raleigh, Austin, ah, Atlanta, New Orleans it's less likely." Derek explained, "Im more so judged for bein' black than I am bein' a mutant simply because it's my outward experience."

Damn, Kendra was hittin' him with the hard questions. Derek stared down at his coffee, "I came to the Mansion because I found it to be a safe space. After an incident with someone and a dog, I realized that I needed help gettin' my powers under control," he took a breath, "as for the other questions, they don't know either."

Kendra was quite for a long time. Her eyes searched over Derek's face. She tried to express in her brown eyes all the compassion and understanding she felt without saying a word. She wanted to hug him, to reach over and let him know that it was ok. She came to the mansion for similar reasons she knew what he was feeling for the most part.

Kendra watched as he took the coffee and added 7 sugars to it.  She stared at him dumbly for a few minutes.  7 sugars? Was he trying to give himself cancer or diabetes?  Kendra looked down at her own coffee that only had caramel creamer in it.  She shook her head lightly as she asked her last question.

"So if you could give a message to those folk, those hateful mutant despising people who just don't understand that we're just people just like them.... What would it be?"  It was Kendra's final question she felt like she had enough for her interview.  She was going to type up a good little article and email it to her boss back in Georgia.  She saw everything that Derek had to overcome was going to be inspiring not just to mutants but to the gay community as well, in some small way; even though Derek hadn't done anything particularly heroic he was a hero.

Kendra watched him a moment as he seemed to try and come up with an answer.  The light poured in from the window behind him.  The light gleemed off the side of his face making him seem brighter.  She watched him with interested eyes and she was really taking him in.  She was trying to gather evne subtle clues about the man before her, from the way he talked, the way he carried himself.... The way his eyes just seemed to.  Nope! 

Kendra was leaning one arm on the desk and propping her head up with her hand as she talked to Derek.  She had stared to... For  a second, get lost in his eyes.  He seemed to breathe confidence and charm, he was warm and inviting. Genuine, honest, compassionate, obviously very good looking.  Kendra hadn't allowed herself to really notice, she was so awkward and nervous before, but something was happening.  She found herself becoming more comfortable around him and that had caused her mind to wander just the slightest. 

Clearing her throat Kendra blinked a few times as her head slipped of her hand. It was awkward.  She looked like she had nodded off for a second, and she had.  Only she slipped into a quiet fantasy, a daydream; one she wasn't going to admit as her cheeks blushed slightly.  Well, great job girl, real professional.  She thought a moment.  It was the way the light hit him so perfectly that made her loose herself a moment.  "Well.. Er.. Um... I'm sorry honey what did you say?" Kendra asked again now biting on the eraser of her pencil.  She had already made a bit of a fool of herelf asking him up to her room in a really awkward, forward way now this? Get'chur self together girl! She thought silently.

Derek took a sip of his coffee and sighed. It was the perfect balance of sweetness and cream. He took another sip, this time it was a bigger, healthier one than before. With a subtle moan, Derek placed the cup back down on his lap and looked over at Kendra.

"Honestly? I would tell them that we should sit down and have a conversation. In my opinion, there's been a lot of problems with America. We don't want to talk about issues. We sweep it under the rug and pretend like it doesn't exist. That is until those issues grow and suddenly erupt from the rug and all over the place," Derek sighed and looked down at his mug, "but at the same time, ignorance should never be entertained."

She was staring at him for a while which made him feel like he had something on his face. Derek smiled politely at her and took another sip of his coffee. It was more so a gulp, but to him it was a sip.

"...Which part?" Derek asked, tilting his head to the side in question. "The part I purposely mumbled or what I just said?"

Composing herself a bit Kendra jotted down the last of her notes. Well looks like my article is just about going to write itself. Kendra thought. She took a sip of her coffee and set it down on the desk before turning back to Derek. Greeting him with a warm smile she crept back into her thoughts. What a great guy. She mused.



"Looks like that's it. I should have just'a bout everythang I need for my article. Thanks I really appreciate it. Should have this thang sent in and  ready for next month's issue. I'll have'ta get'cha a copy." She said with a smile.  Kendra was ready to type everything up and get it emailed over to  Buster her editor.  She was sure that it was going to be a huge hit. 

Kendra opened her laptop and opened up a new text file.  Turning back to Derek, handsome, handsome Derek She reached out her hand to shake.  "Well, I thank we did good. And it was good getting to know a bit about'cha. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of each other since we both work for Xavia. " Kendra would have loved to hang out more, but she had a deadline and she hadn't submitted anything in awhile.  She did like having money in her pocket to buy important things like food and things of that nature.  Kendra moved to the door and opened it for Derek, hugging him lightly she gave him a kiss on the cheek more out of impulse than anything else.  "Swing by later maybe we can hang out."  She said boldy.  Hang out?  The socially awkward hermit crab Kendra Dillenger wanted to hang out with someone?  Man oh man, this is going to be a good article.  She thought.

Derek nodded his head once and smiled widely, "Great! I can't to see it, Kendra!" Kendra was certainly a beautiful girl and if Derek was straight, this would've been the point where he would've asked her out to dinner. However in this universe, Derek was gay. Biting his lip, he finished off his coffee and stood up from the bed.

"Of course! It's good to learn thin's about you too." Derek followed Kendra to the door with a smile. He hugged her back and chuckled a bit at the kiss. He was expecting that since it was a very southern thing to do. "I would love to! We should totally meet back up. Maybe for food or somethin'." He smiled more before exiting and walking down the hallway. 

Turns out today was a very interesting day. With a light chuckle, he headed downstairs to the kitchen. 

Kendra closed the door and leaned against it for a moment. She had to collect herself. She didn't know why her heart was racing. He was a complete gentleman. He was also gay but that didn't matter. He was sweet and kind, caring and thoughtful. Some lucky guy out there was sure to snatch him up.  She smiled at the thought, he deserved a good guy.

Kendra moved back over to her desk and sat down. Her computer screen cast a pale light over her face as she stared at the empty text box. Kendra took another sip of her coffee beside her laptop. She didn't even bother to take her eyes from the screen. Pulling her hair back into a ponytail she began to click away at her keyboard.

There are many men that exemplify the word courage.  I don't know if I have ever met one personally that exemplifies it more than Derek Menes.  Here is a man who was born with every challenge one can face and he faced it all with dignity and conviction.  Growing up in the south you could to expect a few things.  The sun will rise in the morning.  It will set in the afternoon and hateful prejudice is part of your daily life.  Derek Menes. Is a mutant.  A rather gifted one at that.  He has the ability to communicate with animals.

Now I know what you're thinking.  And no, he hasn't abused this power in anyway.  Most of us would be tempted right?  Not Derek.  He has actually used his powers to help people.  He used his power to help a neighbor find a lost dog.  He is just selfless like that.  In the time that I've come to know him, I've come to know him as a warm and compassionate individual.  The fact that he is a mutant isn't lost on me.  I know there are many out there who want to see him and his kind locked away.  To see them crucified and ridiculed.  But to lock away someone like Derek would be to hide something precious from the world. Derek is going to change the world. I can feel it as I sit here and type these words. As sure as I'm breathing he's going to leave his mark.

Being a mutant isn't the only thing that Derek has over come.  He's overcome being a black man in the south, he's over come struggles steming from his homosexuality, there will always be haters.  Derek is a beautiful soul.  I sat down with him and asked him some of the hard hitting questions that I thought the people ought to know in this months mutant profile.  I wanted you all to know the stellar example of what it truly means to be human that I saw.  I asked him what was the hardest part? Being a mutant or being Gay. I wanted to know which part of his life he found the most difficult.

" I don't have any physical mutations. If I had enlarged canines, orange eyes, and sharpened claws, then yeah, I would. It's the south. Discrimination is just somethin' that goes on there. In the major cities like Raleigh, Austin, ah, Atlanta, New Orleans it's less likely. Im more so judged for bein' black than I am bein' a mutant simply because it's my outward experience."

I dug deeper.  I really wanted to reach what Derek was trying to put out into the world.  What kind of message did he want to send.  It was clear to me, that he wanted to be a positive impact on the world around him, but I asked him to put it into his own words.  I asked him if he could say one thing to those who hate mutants simply for being different.... What would it be?

"Honestly? I would tell them that we should sit down and have a conversation. In my opinion, there's been a lot of problems with America. We don't want to talk about issues. We sweep it under the rug and pretend like it doesn't exist. That is until those issues grow and suddenly erupt from the rug and all over the place,"

People fear what they don't understand and that's ok.  It's even ok to avoid what you don't feel comfortable around. But don't blindly hate a person for what they are.  Slavery was outlawed.  African Americans gained their rights.  Gay marriage is becoming legalized in some places.  After some time those in charge have slowly started coming to their senses on this issue too.  It will only be a matter of time before mutants fall into this category.  They will be no different than the black guy down the street, or the gay couple two houses down. They will be different, but that shouldn't  be scary. It should be embraced. It's this countries diversity that makes it great.  That's just a few thoughts from this girl's head.  I write these mutant profiles so you can get a glimpse of the scary boogeymen behind the title of mutant.  I want you to get to know them as people so you realize they are nothing to be afraid of. I'm just glad I have this platform to share their stories with you all. Until next month, try not to hate....Love instead.

Article submitted by:Madison Hope

photos submitted by Madison Hope

Kendra sent in her article and the attached pictures to her editor and closed her laptop.  She took another final sip of her coffe and sit it on the table.  She felt a warm sleepy feeling crashing over her.  Peeling off her shirt and slipping out of her pants she crawled between the sheets and found herself staring at the wall.  Kendra wrote under the name Madison Hope.  All her work was submitted under that assumed name.  She was to self conscious to put her name out there, but one day one of those articles was going to be about her.... When she found the courage.

Kendra also wrote a blog under the name Daydream.  She outted herself as a mutant to her blog viewers and it felt amazing.  She could only imagine the sense of pride Derek would feel when he read the article himself.  She was going to get him a copy of the magazine when it printed.  She thought about her time in New York as she laid there. All the people she had met.  All the relationships she had formed.  She thought about how it couldn't have been possible back home in Georgia.  There was no way she would have been this open about her mutation back home.  As Kendra's eyes grew heavier she thought about what her article might say.  She fell asleep trying to make up her mind.