The teacher, Miss Ganch, looked up. "Selina Kyle, I told you to never wear that shirt in this classroom again. Why aren't you in school uniform? And get your feet on the ground."
Selina shrugged nonchalantly as she silently slid her legs off the desk. "They haven't given me a new one yet."
Bruce was a tad bit mesmerized by Selina, but he couldn't put his finger on why. There was something about her eyes...
Selina noticed Bruce staring at her, gave him a look as if to say "hey idiot, stare somewhere else," then almost giggled as he sheepishly broke eye contact and quickly turned back towards the front of the room.
The sunlight was annoying, but otherwise outdoor P.E. was something Bruce actually rather liked, for a couple of reasons. First, he was good at it. There wasn't much in the way of traditional physical activity that he didn't excel at. Second, it was his chance to prove how much better he was than all the other students. He knew it was a terribly egotistical thing to think, but, from his perspective, it was hard to ignore the facts. Most everyone else here was a hormone-driven moron who deserved nothing more than to be ignored.
Bruce ran down the track, lapping the other four boys in his group for the second time. He knew he was pretty fast, but that seemed a bit ridiculous. He glanced back at the group after he passed by; they were running slowly on purpose—"running" was being generous, actually—so they could stare at the girls doing gymnastics on the field. Bruce rolled his eyes, then saw Selina gracefully twisting over a high bar. He inadvertently slowed down. Something shoved into Bruce's shoulder. He turned to see the other four boys had passed him. Bruce shook his head to clear his mind and kept running.
Bruce stayed on the field for as long as possible. He hated having to share a locker room with two dozen sweaty guys after class; he'd just wait until they were gone. It was his last class of the day, so he didn't have to be anywhere immediately.
Selina apparently had the same idea; it was nearly sunset and she was only just now going inside. One of the ogling boys from before—Trent, a six-foot-tall lineman—quietly stepped out from behind the bleachers and followed her. Bruce stopped what he was doing and moved for the building.
Bruce had been on the opposite side of the field. By the time he got inside, all he saw was Trent's shadow sliding inside the curved hallway to the girls' locker room.
Bruce sprinted for the hall, then halted when he heard Trent's voice screaming in pain.
"AUGH! CRAZY BITCH!"
"That's MISS crazy bitch," Selina's voice echoed. "Get out before I cut something else."
Trent passed Bruce as he left the room. His hand was pressed tightly against the left side of his face; blood dripped from underneath his fingers.
Bruce slowly stepped inside the locker room.
"Selina?"
Selina looked up. "Oh, for god's sake. Did you not see what I did to your buddy back there? You want some of that?"
Bruce glanced up and immediately blushed. Selina was only halfway between outfits, and didn't have much on besides her underwear and half a pant leg.
"N-no, I was just..." Bruce mentally re-focused. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
Selina's face flashed with surprise and amusement.
"Do I look okay?" she said with a smirk.
Bruce almost blushed again, but stopped when he noticed the specks of blood on Selina's fingernails. Blood has a way of making everything more serious.
"Sorry to bother you," he said, quickly turning around and leaving.
Bruce decided to watch the sunset from the bleachers. Clark had told him once that it was relaxing. Thus far Bruce wasn't relaxed, just wondering how much he was damaging his eyes by staring at the sun this long.
"Hey."
Bruce looked to his left to see Selina walking up to him.
"Hey," Bruce replied, trying not to feel embarrassed again.
Selina sat down next to him. Neither of them said anything for a long moment; they just stared out across the field.
"You know we're killing our eyes staring at the sun like this," Selina said.
Bruce smirked. "So look away."
Selina smiled and shook her head. "I'd rather go blind early if it means living a little more."
Bruce lowered his eyes.
"But I'm guessing you're the other way around, huh?" Selina said.
"I might need my eyesight for something later."
"You say that like you're about to carry the One Ring to Mordor. What is it that's so important for you to do?"
"...Nothing, just... life plans."
Selina rolled her eyes. "Whatever, mister mysterious."
"You're one to talk. Who are you, exactly? You weren't here last year, and everyone seems to hate you for some reason."
"Not everyone hates me. The girls hate me, that's for sure. But the boys... well, I guess they do hate me—for not being the slut they wish I was, like the rest of the dumpster trash around here."
"Thanks for that."
"For not being a slut?"
"Yes."
"You're welcome."
Selina regarded Bruce for a moment.
"What is it that makes you so different?" she asked him.
"Different how?"
"You're the ever-famous Bruce Wayne; you could be the king of this school if you wanted, but it seems like you despise it."
"I really do."
"But why? I mean, I get it, this place is like a cat ate a hundred-dollar bill and threw up, but no one else seems to care about that except you. You're rich, eighteen years old, and male; shouldn't you be more concerned with buying expensive cars and convincing girls to drop their panties?"
"There are more important things to worry about."
Selina stared at Bruce hard, searching his eyes. Then it clicked.
"...Was it your mom or your dad?"
"What?"
"Who died. One of them did, didn't they?"
Bruce looked back at her, questioning whether or not to get into it. His parents' death wasn't something he talked about with most people—ever.
"...Both," he said, looking back towards the field.
Selina's face fell. "Oh god, Bruce, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."
"It was a long time ago."
"Were they at the same time, or...?"
"Yeah."
"How?"
"Mugged in an alley."
"Were you there?"
"Yes."
"How did you survive?"
"...I don't know, really. The guy just ran."
"Was he caught?"
"No."
Selina felt like she'd accidentally torn open a wound in Bruce's side.
"My parents died too."
Bruce looked at her, his eyes carrying a tinge of sympathy.
"I'm guessing you want to know how, right?" Selina said.
"...I wasn't going to ask."
"But you want to know."
Bruce didn't say no.
"My dad was a bastard," Selina said. "He had a pretty rough job out at the docks, worked hard and barely got paid, so he figured he'd take out his anger on my mom. He beat her to an inch of her life every other week. One day she decided to take the extra step for him and end it herself."
Bruce opened his mouth to speak but Selina pressed her fingers to his lips.
"I know you're sorry. You don't need to say it."
Selina took a deep breath. "I found her in the bathtub one night. She'd cut her wrists, so she basically bled out and drowned in her own blood. The police found bruises on her body and figured out my dad had been beating her, so they tried to arrest him. He fought back and ended up getting shot."
Bruce hung his head a little. "And all this time I thought I had it worse than anyone."
"Were your parents nice? Were they good to you?"
"Yes."
"Then you actually lost something. That's one way you had it worse. My mom was the only one that loved me, but not enough to stay alive. My dad got what he deserved. If life screwed me over, it was in never giving me anything in the first place."
"At least you're still here."
"Ha. Yeah, survival is the best thing I have going for me. But it's not enough."
Bruce sighed. "No, it's not."
Selina laughed. "As first conversations go, this one was pretty terrible."
Bruce smiled a little. "It's not so bad. I think this makes us friends now."
Selina mockingly chuckled a little as she stood up. "I don't have friends, rich boy. But I don't hate you, so that's something. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow... if you're lucky."
Bruce watched her walk down the steps and leave.
"I don't think I like her. Is she your new girlfriend?" a high-pitched voice said from over Bruce's shoulder.
Bruce spun around to see a small blonde-haired girl staring at him.
"Lucy?!"
"Hi Bruce!" Lucy Lane said, her face beaming with glee.
