Seventy Times Seven

Thursday, Fourth Hour Gym Class. Chelseas POV

It was the beginning of a new semester, and I had gym. Damn it to hell.

Its not that I'm not fit or anything, I just hate gym. My life would be so much easier if I didn't have to do this shit. This is the last time I'll ever have gym I swear. One thing that was cool though, was that Frank had the same hour gym as I did, since he was a Junior like me. But we didn't have coed gym, so they went to the gym in the basement while the girls had the one on the main floor. We would occasionally play dodgeball or something with them, but other than that it was just girls.

"Alright ladies, I'll assign you your lockers. You will share a locker with someone because of the number of girls we have. And bring clothes tomorrow, you'll be expected to dress out," Mrs. Pierce instructed as we gathered around her in the locker room.

"Madison Allen and Samantha Azure in locker one. Kasee Benson and Hayley David in locker two.." she droned, handing them locks.

I glanced around at the other girls, since I knew my name wasnt coming anytime soon. There was a girl in the corner that I'd never seen before. She had short pixie-cut black hair and snakebites, with what looked to be a black tank top and a dark blue unbuttoned pull-over, rolled up to her elbows. She stood with her weight on one leg, and her arms crossed, and looked extremely confident.

"Chelsea Manson and Ja-"

"JB," the girl interrupted.

Mrs. Pierce stopped and glanced at her paper. "Oh ok. Chelsea Manson and JB Nelson in locker fourteen," she said correcting her sheet. She handed me a lock and I peeled the piece of tape off the back. Scribbling the combination down in my notebook and handing it to JB.

She took it slowly. She didn't seem so confident anymore. "Hey. Is today your first day here?"

She nodded, then went back to writing down the combo. Her eyes were green, and she wore her eyeliner really thick. And I couldnt stop staring at the two studs under her lips. Fucking cool..

"Well, do you have any friends yet?"

She looked up, and shrugged. Then put her paper back in her bag. She seemed determined not to talk.

I thought for a second. The guys wouldnt mind if she ate lunch with us right? I should be a good citizen today. "Well, next hours lunch. And me and some of my friends go out and eat at one of our houses. Do you know Gerard Way? Or Frank Iero? Ray Toro?"

She shook her head.

"Oh, well they're my friends. You can come eat lunch with us if you want," I offered.

She shook her head. "No thanks," she replied quietly.

I was kinda surprised. I hadnt really expected her to say no I guess. "Oh. Ok, thats cool."

"Ok girls, after you figure out your lock combinations and get them on your lockers you're free to do whatever you want in the gym. The guys are doing the same thing as us today, so they'll prolly be out there. Keep your hands to yourselves," Mrs. Pierce said with a smile. There was a light laugh throughout the locker room as she left.

The locker room was filled with sounds of girls fighting with locks and the creaking of the vintage lockers. I sat on one of the benches, about a foot or so away from JB and waited while she was trying to undo the lock and put it on our locker.

That was when Madison came over. "Hey new girl. Tell me what JB stands for," she demanded.

It had been a long time since I'd felt like sticking up for myself. But now that the last few days had been better, I didn't feel like JB should have to put up with her shit. "None of your fucking business, Madison," I sneered back, knowing JB didn't feel like talking.

"Did I look like I was talking to you? Emo?"

"Does it look like I fucking care? Slutty whore?" I shot back in a snobby voice, trying to mimic her. She scoffed, and leaned back, like 'who am I to call her a slutty whore.'

She looked at me for a minute, trying to think of what to say, "Get a life, Manson."

"Get a face that isnt fucked, Allen," I growled and shoved her.

She fell to the ground and scoffed. I turned to the side, ready to fight her if I had to. "Oh you're gonna wish you hadn't done that Chelsea.." she snarled getting back up.

Before I knew it some girl was standing in front of me and punched Madison hard in the face. "It stands for 'Jersey Bitch'. Now back the fuck up," JB said angrily. Her tone almost scared me, and Madison's nose was bloody as she cried.

I smiled and watched in awe as the blood poured from her nose. The other girls were all gathering around her. I knew we needed to leave before Mrs. Pierce got back, even though everyone would probably tell her what happened. "Hey come on," I said slinging my bag over my shoulder. I grabbed her wrist in one hand, her backpack in the other and we headed for the gym.

I threw our bags by the bleachers and we sat down. Some of the guys were shooting baskets. "You didn't have to do that. I've taken her before," I said, scanning the players looking for Frank.

"She called you emo," she said quietly.

There was Frank. He was shooting from the three point line. I watched as it bounced off the rim, and he jogged to go retrieve it. Laughing at one of the guys as they said something and threw back to him before he got there. "Eh, its not a big deal. People do all the time," I replied blankly.

She didn't say anything. "Hey, remember that Frank Iero guy I was talking about?" I asked, deciding to break the silence. She nodded. "Well, he's right over there playing basketball. You wanna come with me and hang out with him? Until the bell rings?"

She shook her head.

I thought for a minute. I wanted to go out there and hang out with Frank, but would if be rude if I just left her. "You sure? He's cool if you get to know him.."

"No thanks," she said quietly.

I looked back out at Frank. He was talking to one of the other guys I knew as Corey. They shook hands, then Frank shot from the three point line, and it swished through the net. He jumped up and down in excitement as Corey shook his head and gave him a dollar.

I smiled, "Alright, well, if you get bored, you can come out there with us. Later dude, and thanks for punching Madison. She's a bitch."

I got the idea that she wasnt going to respond, so I jogged up behind Frank at the three point line. He hadn't noticed me, so I stood up on my toes and put my hands over his eyes.

He spun around and I scoffed, "You cheated!"

His face lit up, "Chelsea! You have my gym class?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yea dude you didn't know this? All the Juniors that signed up for second semester gym have it together."

"Awesome! Wait, we don't have coed gym, so I'll prolly never get to see you.." he added, his face slightly falling.

Corey butt in though, "Hey he said we get the gym every Thursday, so we're probably doing something with the girls then."

I shrugged, it didn't really bother me. "Sounds cool. So like, you wanna see my mad basketball skills?" I said with a smile, taking the basketball from him. "You give me a dollar if I hit the rim."

"And if you dont you give me a dollar?" Frank asked, stepping aside so that I could shoot.

"Psht, no, I know I'm not gonna hit it. I'm like, five foot tall. This is pretty much like half court for me." I threw the basketball as hard as I could, and yet it still managed to get three feet away from the rim or so.

He laughed, "God your short, even I can hit the rim.."

I shoved him. "Yea so like I'm probably gonna get called to the office here soon."

"Why?" he asked curiously.

"Eh. You know Madison Allen?" He nodded. "She was giving this new girl shit and we kinda started yelling at eachother, but then JB punched her in the face," I said laughing, pointing over to the bleachers.

His face lit up, "Whoa! Seriously? I wanna meet her!" he said with a laugh. I grabbed his wrist and dragged him over to JB.

JB was just staring off into space, and looked to be sucking on one of her lip rings. When she saw Frank though, she looked pissed.

I kind of thought my words through first. "Hey JB, this is my friend Frank...he's cool," I added, trying to soften her expression a little. It didn't work. Frank looked confused.

"Hey.." he said quietly.

She just glared at him. Then got up, grabbed her bag, and walked out of the gym.

I was dumbstruck. "What the fuck was that about?!" Frank asked angrily.

I immediately turned to him, "Hey, calm down, I know she dosent like talking much.." I turned back to where she left, expecting to see her come back. "But..I don't know what that was about..have you ever talked to her before?"

"No dude I've never even met-"

"Chelsea Manson! JB Nelson!" Mrs. Pierces angry face appeared from the locker room doorway.

"Shit... Told you so. I'll see you at lunch."

"Later Chels," he replied, his hand lightly brushing my back as I jogged towards her.

I stopped in front of her. Madison was at her side with some cotton shoved up her nose. I smirked lightly. "Did you have anything to do with this?" Mrs. Pierce asked angrily.

"What her nose? Or her nauseating personality.." I muttered. She just glared at me. "I may have provoked it slightly yes. She was giving JB hell and I stood up for her and I punched her," I replied, attempting to cover JB.

"Bullshit that new girl punched me!" Madison said in a nasally voice, seeing as she had cotton shoved up her nose. "You just called me a slutty whore!"

"What..you are.." I murmured.

Mrs. Pierced replied quickly, "Where is Ms. Nelson."

"I don't know," I said honestly with a shrug. There was no way I could get her out of that one.

She looked at me confused, then glanced around the gym. "Is she not here?"

"I don't know." Ok, that was a lie. I knew she left.

"Well go to the office. As soon as I find JB she will be down there to accompany you," she snapped.

I walked over to the bleachers to grab my bag, and smiled as Frank shook his head and laughed.

Walking to the office, I pondered in my head what I might get for this. It wasnt that big of a deal, its not like I hadnt ever gotten a detention before. Yea, I'll probably get a weeks detention. It's not normally that, but I get in fights a lot, so thats been the standard.

I got to the office and sat down. I couldn't wait until lunch, I wonder who's house we're going to today. Gerard normally decides.

The secretary lady looked up from her computer, "Are you here to see Mr. Scotts?" she asked, speaking of our principal.

"Yea." Why else would I be sitting outside his office..

She glanced over into his office, "You can go on in hun."

I got up out of the stupid wooden chair and went into Mr. Scotts' office. I know this sounds stupid and cliche, but I seriously did know this room. It was small, but cozy. There was dark marroon carpet with tan walls and he had a dark oak desk and two fluffy chairs in front of it. Mr. Scotts himself was skinny, and had only been our principal for the last two years. He was kind of cool, yet definately played off his name of principal. He had short brown hair that was gelled up to look spiked yet subtle, and was probably in his early thirties.

He smirked when I came in. "Ms. Manson. You havent been in here for a while." I thought about why that might be, then remembered the whole episode with Frank and me not being bitchy to people. I didn't say anything. "What is it this time?"

"I punched, Madison Allen in the face." Again, if JB doesnt show, I can still cover for her.

"Why?"

"She was annoying a new girl. I told her to quit and she got all bitchy-"

"Language," he interrupted flatly.

"Snotty," I corrected, then continued. "She called me emo, I called her a whore and punched her."

He folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. "What exactly is emo, that makes it so offensive?"

I glared at him. "Its not that emo itself is offensive, Mr. Scotts. But it doesnt take a genius to know she wasnt exactly being complimentary about it. Besides, shes so fucking stupid-"

"Language," he said with more of a snarl. For some reason people think 'fuck' is worse than most.

"Shes so freaking stupid that I know she wouldnt be able to understand the concept of what 'emo' really means anyway. She shouldn't have the confidence to say the word, let alone call somebody one." To be honest? This is common speech from me. Thats not the first time someone asked me why I took someone calling me emo offensively. I wouldn't if they knew exactly what they meant and weren't using it harshly.

He studied me for a minute. Trying to figure me out. He just sighed and pulled something out of his drawer. "What do I have to do to teach you that you can't physically abuse people when they don't say something you want them to say, Chelsea?"

I glared at him, "Set them straight yourself."

He scribbled something down on what I assumed was the detention slip and handed it to me. "Weeks lunch detention. You'll get your lunch and report to Mr. Clarks room all week next week for lunch."

My eyes shot open, "What?! What happened to normal after school detentions!"

He gave me a weird look. "Mrs. Smiths on holiday and the other detention class is full."

I stood up, "But Mr. Scotts you don't understand I eat with my friends during lunch-"

"Not next week you won't be."

My mouth hung open. This wasnt cool, even though I knew better than anybody that there was no way of getting out of it.

"Report back to class Ms. Manson. Next week you'll be serving lunch in Mr. Clarks room. So far you're the only one, so it'll be nice and quiet for you," he replied, turning back to his computer absentmindedly. "Have a good day Chelsea."

I stared at the slip in shock, then convinced my legs to take me back out to the hallway just as the bell rang. Pulling my bag over my shoulder, I read the slip carefully. Rereading the part that said 'Lunch Detention, 12-7 thru 12-11'.

"Hey Chelsea Mae. Whats the jurisdiction?" I knew by the nickname who it was.

"Fucking lunch detention next week!" I said angrily. His face fell. "This fucking sucks! As soon as I find something fun to do during lunch, I get forced to spend it at school! Besides! Thats the only time of the day that I actually get to hang out with you, Gerard, Mikey, and Ray all at the same time. I don't even have a class with all of you! You guys help me with my sanity! It's like my mid-day relief!" I droned as we walked back to the Junior locker hallway.

"What class is it with? Mr. Clark?" he asked as we approached my locker.

I spun the lock, frustrated. "Yea I think so."

He smiled, shaking the hair out of his eyes. "Sweet, I'll serve it with you. So you've got someone to talk to, yea?"

I looked at him confused. "Scotts said I was by myself, do you have lunch detention?" I asked tossing my bag in my locker and slamming it shut and started down towards his locker.

"Nah. But I've had it before, and Mr. Clark leaves for lunch, even though hes not suppose to. You still arent allowed to leave because he tells whoevers across the hallway from him to watch the door, but I can go in and keep you company if you want," he said smiling, shoving his books in his locker. For some reason it made my heart beat faster.

Gerard and Mikey were walking toward the parking lot in front of us. I couldn't help but smile back. "Thatd be awesome. Thanks Frankie. But you don't have to. You could spend a few of the days with Gerard if you wanted," I added, still smiling as we walked toward the doors.

"It's ok, anything for my Chelsea Mae," he replied, his arm sliding around my waist again. For some reason, I was beginning to like it there.