A Reunion Between Old Friends
Miriam stood in front of the massive oak door, and took a deep breath, letting it out in a whoosh. Then she lifted her hand and rang the bell. The sound rang through the inside of the mansion, and it felt almost like a death knell. She shivered.
After a moment, footsteps approached the door. Someone spoke, low words that she couldn't make out. Then the door opened. A young man, about twenty-five if she hadn't missed her guess, leaned against the doorframe. His shoulder-length blonde hair framed a friendly grin, blue eyes, and a tan that spoke of many hours in the sun. "Well hello there. What can I do for you?"
"Hi. Um. I...Well, I heard that this...was a safe place?" She shuffled her feet, hid her hands in her pockets, and tried to meet his eyes but failed. "For...for mutants?"
She waited for the explosion, for his demand that she leave, how dare she accuse him of such a thing...but it didn't come. Instead he turned and shouted over his shoulder. "Charles! We got another one!"
Another one?
He turned back to her and grinned. "You got it right. Welcome to the Xavier Academy for the Gifted and Talented." Stepping out onto the porch, he picked up her suitcase. "C'mon in and we'll show you around."
The foyer alone took her breath away. A beautiful marble-tiled floor ran up to a sweeping grand staircase, with banisters of polished wood. Vases and busts sat on plinths around the room, in little alcoves clearly meant for that purpose. In the center of the foyer sat a small circular table with an arrangement of fresh flowers on top and a small carpet underneath that matched the flowers. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, all gold metal and tiny gems. And it seemed to have real candles as well. It wasn’t the main source of light for the room though. That was the huge floor-to-ceiling windows lining the outer wall. She’d seen the one-way glass as she approached the front door.
As she gaped, a man in a wheelchair approached. His bald head gleamed in the sunlight streaming through the windows. “Is this our new recruit, Alex?” he asked. She looked down at him, the voice startling her from her trance. He wore a suit, fitted and clearly expensive, with a red tie.
“This is her! Charles, this is…um…”
“Did you forget to introduce yourself again?” another voice drawled. And another stranger appeared, this one with brown hair and glasses, as well as a long white lab coat. He held an iPad in one hand, tapping away at the screen, but he did look up long enough to smirk at the blonde man who had answered the door.
“Hey, it’s only happened twice now.” The blonde man—Alex—grinned, relaxed. He turned to her. “Sorry, my bad. I’m Alex, and this is Charles and Hank.” He gestured at the man in the wheelchair and the man in the lab coat as he said their names.
“Hi. I’m Miriam. Miriam Sanders.” She shook each of the three hands that were offered to her.
“Sanders? I used to know a Miriam Sanders,” Hank mused. “Don’t suppose you used to live in Illinois?”
Miriam looked up at him sharply, inspecting his face. Then her eyes lit up. “Henry McCoy? No way!”
He seemed startled. “Wait, you are that Miriam? Really?”
“Yeah! Oh my god, I always wondered what happened to you after you moved away. Why’d you move so suddenly, anyway? Like I just went over to ask if you could play and you were just gone!”
Hank grinned wryly. “Someone found out I was a mutant. Threatened to tell everyone unless we moved away. So we packed up and left. Sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye.”
“I hate to interrupt,” Charles interrupted, “but perhaps we ought to get a feel for Miriam’s situation so we can get her settled in.” He looked at Miriam, and his eyes were kind. “What brings you to us?”
Miriam sighed. “It’s a bit of a long story.”
“We’ve got time. Here, come sit down.” Charles gestured to a group of cushy red armchairs arranged around a coffee table that she hadn’t noticed before. The chair was one of the comfiest chairs she’d ever sat in.
“Well, I suppose it starts with me being a mutant. My mutation showed up in high school but I kept it secret until senior year. Then I decided I needed to tell my parents.”
“Didn’t go well, I’m guessing?” Hank asked.
“Not even a little bit. In the end, they said I could stay with them until I’d graduated high school and turned eighteen, but then I was on my own. And they told me never to contact them again. So I managed to get into a university, one not far from here, on a physics scholarship. I wanted to study light, specifically. Oh, that’s my mutant ability. I can create and manipulate light.”
“Fascinating,” Hank murmured. “How does that work? Do you create matter that glows, or actually manipulate photons themselves?”
“Photons,” Miriam grinned. “But those questions were really why I wanted to study what I did. And I was doing great. But then someone caught me using lab equipment to study my powers. They accused me of cheating, falsifying experiments, and eventually expelled me. Which meant I also lost my on-campus job. And my on-campus housing.” She sighed. “Just me and my car. So I searched around for somewhere friendly to mutants, and ended up here.”
“Hm. Well, with all of that information, I’d love to make you an offer.” Charles steepled his fingers, elbows resting on the arms of his chair. “I can offer you room and board, free of charge, but I would ask that you take on the responsibility of teaching some of our younger students. This is a school in fact as well as facade, and we can always use more hands.”
Miriam sat, mouth open, stunned.
“Of course, if you’d prefer not to teach, I have connections elsewhere—”
“Oh, no, it’s not the teaching. It’s just…I never expected quite so generous an offer.” Miriam folded her shaking hands in her lap. Her voice began to tremble as well. “I…I’d be happy to accept those terms.” She laughed. “This morning I was homeless and jobless, and now here I am with both, plus a reunion with a childhood friend!” With a quick motion, she brushed a tear from her eye as if it was nothing.
“The suite next to mine is free,” Hank said. “I can show her the way.”
“No, I need you for something. However, that suite ought to be perfect. Alex, can you show her there and help carry her things?” He smiled at Miriam. “Welcome. I’ll see you again at dinner tonight.” He left, and Hank followed, with a small wave and smile goodbye.