Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 108

The house was too quiet the next morning.

–

:

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Not peaceful quiet the kind that comes after a storm, when everything feels like it’s still vibrating from the damage.

I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, my head pounding from another sleepless night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw it all again Mom’s shocked face, Jackson’s voice cracking as he yelled, the way the air had felt so heavy I could barely breathe.

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Now it was Sunday morning, and the silence felt like punishment.

I could hear the faint clatter of dishes downstairs, the sound of Mom moving around the kitchen like she was pretending nothing had happened. She always did that – filled the space with busy noise when things got too

hard to talk about.

I dragged myself out of bed, pulled on one of Jackson’s old sweatshirts, and padded down the hall. His bedroom door was still closed. I hesitated outside it, listening for movement. Nothing.

He hadn’t said a word to me since last night.

When I walked into the kitchen, Mom was at the counter, pouring herself coffee. She looked exhausted dark circles under her eyes, hair tied up in a messy bun.

“Morning,” I said quietly.

She turned, forcing a small smile. “Hey, sweetheart. You hungry?”

I shook my head.

“You should eat something,” she said, automatically. “There’s cereal, or I can―”

“Mom.” My voice came out softer than I meant it to. “You don’t have to do that.”

—

She stopped mid–motion, the spoon in her hand hovering over the counter. For a moment, she looked like she might argue

– then her shoulders sagged. “I just hate how we left things last night.”

“Me too,” I admitted.

She took a deep breath and sat down at the table. I followed, sitting across from her.

“Jackson’s still asleep?” she asked.

“Door’s shut,” I said. “Probably pretending to be.”

A ghost of a smile flickered on her face, then faded. “He’s angry.”

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Chapter 108

“I know.”

“Not just at me,” she said quietly. “At himself. At… everything.”

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I traced my finger along a scratch in the table, remembering the way Jackson’s voice had broken last night.

I hate being the only guy in this house.

If it wasn’t for Noah’s dad, I wouldn’t even know how to shave.

He hadn’t been wrong.

—

—

Mom and me and somewhere along the way, he must’ve

He’d been raised in a house full of women started to feel like he didn’t belong anywhere.

“He said some things he didn’t mean,” Mom added after a long pause.

“Yeah,” I murmured. “And some things he did.”

She looked up at me then, her eyes soft but full of something raw. “You two have always been close, even when you fight. He’ll come around.”

I wanted to believe her. But the way Jackson had looked at her last night — like something inside him had cracked open

made me doubt that it would be that simple.

–

My phone buzzed on the counter, pulling my attention away. I picked it up – another text from Mariah.

M:

You up?

Jessa:

Barely.

M:

Good. Get dressed. I’m coming over.

Jessa:

Why?

M:

Because if you hide out all weekend, they win. And I refuse to let that happen.

Mom noticed. “Mariah?”

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I finished my coffee in silence, trying not to think about the noise online – the videos still making their

15:17 Sun, Oct 19 –

Chapter 108

rounds, the comments, the posts. I’d stopped checking, but that didn’t mean they’d gone away.

A knock on the door made me jump

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When I opened it, Mariah stood there holding two iced coffees and a mischievous grin. “Rise and shine, main character. Let’s go.”

“Go where?” I asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” she said, handing me one of the cups. “You’re not staying cooped up all day. Come on, sunshine. The world’s already talking- might as well look fabulous while it does.”

I groaned. “You’re relentless.”

“That’s why you love me,” she said, tugging at my arm. “Now get dressed. Cute top, jeans that actually fit your butt – let’s give Ridgeville something to really talk about.”

Despite myself, I laughed. “You’re insane.”

“Obviously,” she said. “Now hurry up before I start picking your outfit myself.”

I headed to my room, setting my coffee down on my dresser. My reflection in the mirror looked tired, but the tiniest spark of something new–defiance, maybe glimmered beneath it.

–

Maybe Mariah was right. If people were going to stare, I might as well give them a reason to look twice,

As I dug through my closet, I heard my phone buzz again.

Noah:

Jackson’s coming over. We’re gonna hang out for a bit. You okay?

I stared at the message for a moment before typing back.

Jessa:

Yeah. Trying to be.

Noah:

Good. That’s all any of us can do right now.

I smiled faintly, sliding the phone into my pocket.

Maybe things were still a mess. Maybe Monday would be awful, and the comments would keep coming. But at least I wasn’t alone in it anymore.

–

And maybe just maybe that was enough to start piecing things back together.