Selina whined a little when she felt the sunlight beam through into her face, waking her up earlier than she would've liked. But she was used to waking up at the crack of dawn.

      She rolled onto her back with a quiet groan, being careful with the three comic books under her head that she had been using as a pillow and the jacket draped on her upper body, a makeshift blanket.

      The thief sat up and yawned widely, stretching her arms above her head. She wished she got to sleep in more, since she spent all night reading the two new comic books, but she supposed she needed to start the day.

      The day was uneventful, per usual. She pickpocketed quite a few people and by 3 pm, she had bought herself a Philly cheesesteak. Those became her favorite food to eat, so that was definitely a plus.

      She crossed her legs underneath her as she sat down on a bench, unwrapping her cheesesteak and taking a bite before humming in delight. She would never get used to how good these things tasted.

      For the first time in a long time, the young teenager felt a sort of peacefulness around her. She wasn't exactly sure why, maybe because the environment was so different than in Gotham where everyday, someone was murdered and the criminals got away with it.

      As she stared straight ahead while eating, Selina heard uneven footsteps walking toward her. It was a sound she somehow managed to memorize and without even looking to her side, she asked, "you stalking me, Freeman?"

      Freddy chuckled, sitting down without asking near her on the bench. But then again, even if he did ask, would she have refused him? Maybe...but she wasn't even sure anymore. "I promise I'm not. But I did see you from across my school, thought I'd give you some company."

      Selina scoffed quietly under her breath, rolling her head to look at him. "You saw me all the way from there?" She asked, raising an eyebrow slightly as she looked at the direction where his school was, spotting the building, and then back at the smaller boy.

      "Your curls are very hard to miss, Cat." He pointed out.

      Selina instinctively tried to smooth out her wild curls with one hand before giving up and shrugging her shoulders. "Not my fault I was cursed with this mop on my head."

      He laughed softly, resting his crutch beside him. "You know, I've seen you three times and each time, you're alone."

      "I like being alone."

      "No one likes being alone. Trust me. Loneliness sucks."

     "Hey, don't talk about my best friend like that." She said in a mock serious voice, pointing a finger at him as Freddy began laughing again.

      "My bad, my bad!" He went along with it, holding his hands up as Selina realized that today he was wearing a red Wonder Woman shirt. Cool. "But really, don't your parents worry?"

      "My dad's always working and my mom trusts me." Selina lied without a second thought, taking another bite of her cheesesteak.

      "What school do you go to?" He asked her curiously.

      "I'm homeschooled." Not necessarily a lie. She did teach herself how to read and write and count. Just the basics.

      "That must be fun!" Freddy said with a little smile, watching her as she ate.

      "It kinda is." She agreed. "I'm still getting used to Philly though, I only moved here about a month ago."

     "Oh really? Where were you from?"

      She shot him a little smirk and shrugged her shoulders, burying her teeth back into the food and quickly devoured it.

      He chuckled softly, shaking his head as he looked at her. "You're like a paradox, Cat. Wait...is Cat even your real name?" Wow. He was good. He could be a detective, put James Gordon to shame.

      Selina merely shrugged her shoulders again silently, licking her fingers as she continued to smirk at him.

      He nodded, leaning his back against the bench. "Okay...I respect that. You've got secrets, that's cool. But I'll figure you out someday, Cat."

      She scoffed, rolling her eyes as she pulled her backpack closer to her side. "Good luck with that."

      But Freddy had a determined look on his face, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked at her backpack. "You're always carrying that around, but you're homeschooled...so what's in it?"

      "Bombs." She didn't hesitate to respond, smirking again at him.

      "And what are you gonna use the bombs for?" The shorter boy asked, knowing that she was joking and going along with it.

      "A bank. I'm a growing girl and I wanna break in and get money."

      "That explains why you keep stealing comic books."

      "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but you actually helped me steal a comic and then gave me another one to steal!" She retorted.

      Freddy held his hands up again in mock surrender. "You got me there." He chuckled. "But did you enjoy them?"

      She smiled, smiling a lot more than she has within the last nine years. "Yeah. I did. They were pretty good."

     "I know, those are my favorites. I was hoping you'd like them." Freddy replied with a grin before they both heard someone calling his name.

      Across the street was an older brunette girl, waving him over. "Oh, that's my sister. I gotta head home. I'll talk to you later, Cat." Yup. He wasn't going to be going away that easily. But Selina didn't think she minded.

      "Alright, wouldn't want to keep them waiting." Selina said with a little smile, waving at him as she watched him limp off to his sister.

      It must be nice, to have a family. She tried hard to push down her jealousy, hugging her backpack to her chest.

      She fought her hardest to swallow down her guilt as well for lying to Freddy's face. Lying was something she learned quickly on the streets and had no problems with. But that boy who could barely walk properly was sweet and kind and seemed truthful. Yet she lied right through her teeth without blinking.

      But it didn't matter. She was a homeless street thief. She was nothing. It was better for Freddy not to know the real her.

      And so Selina stood up and walked away, her backpack swung over her shoulder, as she prepared to steal some beer from a convenience store.