For the next couple of months, Selena was purposefully oblivious to Gunn and the other members of the G4, focusing on her schoolwork and her business. Focusing on recouping her loss from her hospitalization until she had enough money to invest.
Molly and James worked hard, her mother picking up work at a nicer club. She felt guilty that Molly had to work a few shifts, but they needed the money at first. Luckily, Selena was running everything above board, and James and Mom received their wages. But the profits were nuked.
It wasn't hard to do all the school work and her job duties at the same time. They had more clients now. The two nearest apartment buildings mostly opted to use TaskMonkey for laundry services. The addition of monthly subscription boxes made them a mint. Business exploded.
Her 14th birthday passed. During this time, she was exasperated by the bullying from the girls in the class. It all started two weeks after she started school. The guys were leaving her alone now, but it seemed like Gunn had sent a portion of her female classmates after her. Periods 3 and 4 were fine because they were not able to get into the class as it was Advanced Placement. But English and Physical Education were awful.
It started with remarks about her. Selena walked into the locker room, surrounded by the chatter of her gym classmates at St. Theresa High School. But as she made her way to her locker, the atmosphere shifted. A group of girls snickered and whispered to each other, their eyes fixed on Selena.
"I heard she's bulimic," one of them said, loud enough for Selena to hear. "Yeah, look at the ribs, ew." Selena ignored them and continued to change into her gym clothes. Oh well? The biting comments of the girl the same physical age as her made her smirk.
But the bullying didn't stop there. Next week, in gym class, a stray ball "accidentally" hit Selena in the head in dodgeball. She just went and sat unfazed and relaxed whenever she got put out or didn't get picked.
They were just children to her, and it was funny. It was a child's game of dodgeball. She had other shit to do. She just silently bore all the remarks and thrown objects. It would either die away soon, like with Gunn, or it would intensify. She could take steps if it became physical.
Then, violence became a daily variable. Now, Selena was ready to draw blood out of annoyance, but she had to restrain herself. It became a daily challenge. As she walked down the hallway between classes, she would dodge shoves and legs put out to trip her, trying to knock her off balance. But Selena was quick and agile, dodging their attempts with ease. Most of the time, she could trip or land a hard punch on the girls.
Then there were the buckets of water thrown at her as it got colder. Usually a quick dodge worked. Once it landed, but it wasn't a huge deal. Molly just picked her up at school, and they got their nails done.
Then, lunchtime became a challenge; Selena didn't like being bothered while she ate. It was a holy experience to her still. Decades of eating shitty food or starving made her appreciate what she was eating and getting to eat. In the cafeteria, a tray of food was "accidentally" spilled on her. But Selena just laughed it off and helped clean up the mess, but now she had to find somewhere else to eat and she could not leave the campus.
As she walked out of the cafeteria for the last time, a group of girls stared at her in awe. "Doesn't she know nobody likes her prissy ass?" one of them whispered. "She needs to get a clue and leave." A yogurt cup soared, and she ducked.
She heard snickering. What a complete waste of a premium yogurt parfait. Nothing pissed her off more than being interrupted while eating than food waste. Selena looked in that direction and snorted, noting Gunn's look at her. "Fucking pathetic prick," Selena muttered under her breath. She kept her face neutral.
Despite the constant bullying, Selena remained outwardly unfazed. She knew that their words and actions were a reflection of their insecurities, not hers. She continued to walk down the hallway with her head held high, her long black hair flowing behind her.
The bullying didn't stop, but Selena's utter disinterest and confidence only grew stronger. She was a force to be reckoned with, and her classmates were starting to realize it.
Selena overheard their conversation and smiled to herself. She knew that she was stronger than their words and actions, and that was all that mattered and revenge on the fluffy-headed twerp that was behind the scenes.
The little guy was insecure. But she was not. They couldn't bully her for her looks or clothes. She didn't care if they hid her uniform. Oh well, she'd freeze until Molly popped by with a new one. This was annoying, she just had not let her anger rise and ignored it until he and they lost interest.
Selena opted to use the Gray Rock Method to hopefully become disnteresting to Gunn, and the other students harassed her. She didn't know how to become any more boring, and she didn't even talk to anyone. So, lunch became library time, which was fine.
Lunch was now a quick sandwich or soup anyway. James was a better cook than the minimum-wage cafeteria workers anyway. The library had supervision,n and it was quiet. She got all her homework done and could just leave it in her locker.
Then one day, she noticed the two girls, the directors of her harassment campaign at school, following her home on a Friday. When she got on the bus, and they followed, she knew that they were looking for an opportunity to jump her. They were so painfully obvious in tracking her.
She purposefully led the pair to an alleyway and made them regret following her home. There was no CCTV or cameras around, so she let them have it, not so much so that they would die. But it would hurt for a long time. Soft tissue damage usually takes a shorter time to heal than broken bones. They were now pandas, and she would address them as so.
It did not stop the rest of the recruits. That's when she got more and more violent. She started putting tape on her knuckles on the bus or carrying rolls of quarters as weapons. By the first snowfall, it thankfully stopped, but Selena found the quietness and the wealth of knowledge around her too alluring to venture back to the cafeteria. But she was now the 'Terrifying Ice Queen of St. Theresa High School' and she was pleased with her new moniker.
Gunn couldn't stop thinking about Selena now. She had opted to hide, and he found himself developing an obsession with her. He hated her for it.
"She didn't even come and angrily confront me, she's got balls. I am surprised she did not kick my ass. She could." Gunn thought. He was still insecure about her seeing him crying.
"Hey, can you find out more about her?" Gunn confided in his friend Jakob Reinhold, who was also a member of the G4. He wished she would just confront him about all this already. It pissed him off that she did not feel small or embarrassed either.
Jakob looked at Gunn, wondering what he had against the quiet student. She was pretty, but she never smiled or talked to anyone. He relented out of curiosity and began to investigate her family and background. "Fine, but I am not going to be creepy for you, Buddy. I will leave the pervy details out, no bra size or pictures." he ruffled Gunn's curly hair.
He would only provide some basic information about her identity; her parents were an enigma. Someone did not like him investigating her mother. His father received a call, the investigation was halted, and he got in trouble. Her background was very pitiable. What was more interesting is how she didn't let anything phase her. Jakob compiled a folder full of information while he watched the hazing campaign.
She treated the girls Gunn tasked to haze her as if it did not matter. If she was physically shoved she would whisper something in a low tone and posture herself and intimidate them. If she was bothered off school grounds on her way home, she very confidently fought them back. Very brutally. She had zero combat training from his records, but this girl could fight. She could probably take Michael on easily, maybe Jo.
As Gunn learned more about Selena, he cared more. Jakob was interested in her, she did not put up with shit. And so they became increasingly fascinated by her. They discovered that her mother, Molly, had been a single parent who had worked multiple jobs to support her family, one of which was at the Lusty Lion. She did anything for her family, but her shifts had lessened.
She was now focusing on a small business that Selena had started and had offered alterations. Selena's stepfather, James, was a disabled veteran who had lost a limb in combat and had PTSD in the past 2 years helped Selena run two profitable businesses.
They also learned about Selena's startup businesses, including her laundry service and her plans to expand TaskMonkey, her laundry and grocery delivery business. Selena was raising the capital herself and had filed for several web domains. The Gray Rock Method was slightly successful.
Selena noticed Gunn and Jakob's attention on her. Just grateful that the annoying hazing was over. She didn't need to pay attention in some subjects, so she spent those periods learning with A.A using all the future Juvenile Education programs developed by the best teachers Rhine could afford. A.A monitored the outside world to pay attention if she was asked a question. Selena continued to excel at school, earning top scores in the midterm examinations.
Liam Reinhold, as he felt the loss of his place as a top scorer in his grade, Jakob and Gunn wondered what was wrong. Liam had stopped hanging out with them at school.