Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Jessa

The house was quiet when I got home–the kind of quiet that sat heavy in the an

No TV, no music, no noise from Jackson’s room. Just silence.

+25 BONUS

When I walked into the kitchen, Jackson was sitting at the table, still in his practice clothes. His duffel bag was dumped by the door, a towel around his neck, his hair camp from a quick shower. He stared at a water bottle like it had personally offended him.

“You look like you lost,” I said gently, setting my backpack on the counter.

He didn’t even look up. “Didn’t. Coach just tore into us.”

I frowned and slid into the chair across from him. “About Daniel?”

“About everything,” Jackson muttered. “The party, the crap online, the stupid drama. Guess we embarrassed the whole damn team.”

There was something different in his tone not just anger. Frustration, guilt.

And maybe… exhaustion.

I twisted the cap off a bottle of water and said softly, “You look mad.”

He exhaled sharply. “Maybe I am.”

For a while, neither of us spoke. The fridge hummed quietly behind us, and I traced my finger along a nick in the table one we’d made years ago playing with toy cars.

Finally, I said, “You know what I hate?”

Jackson’s eyes flicked up. “You hate a lot of things. Narrow it down.”

I gave him a weak smile. “I hate that we’re so different.”

That

got his attention. He frowned. “Different how?”

I sighed. “We’re twins, Jackson. We used to be inseparable. But now… it’s like you’re from another world. You’ve got your team, your friends, everything going for you. And me?” I gestured to myself, forcing a laugh. “I’m the fat sister everyone either ignores or talks about.”

He winced. “Jessa-”

“Don’t,” I said quickly. “I know you don’t mean it, but you don’t get it either. You’ve always been the golden boy. People love you. Me? They tolerate me when you’re around.”

Jackson leaned forward, elbows on the table. “You think I don’t get pressure? I screw up once, and everyone’s watching. Everyone’s waiting for me to mess up again.”

I met his eyes. “Yeah, but they still like you, Jackson. You could set the school on fire and somehow still get

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Chapter 118

invited to prom. Me? I trip over my own foot and it’s the Jole of the week.”

joke

That shut him up. For a moment, the only sound was the ice maker clicking

Then I said it the thing that had been sitting on my chest for years.

+25 BONUS

“I hate that we don’t talk anymore. We used to tell each other everything. But after middle school, it’s like you stopped being my brother and became this guy I just… share a house with.”

Jackson’s voice softened. “That’s not fair.”

“It’s true,” I said quietly. “You had football. I had books. You had friends. I had no one. You stopped seeing me, Jackson.”

He stared down at the table, jaw tight. “I didn’t mean to.

“I know. But you did.”

He let out a long breath, rubbing the back of his neck. “You’re right. I messed up. I thought you were fine. You always pretended like you didn’t care what people said.”

“I pretended because you stopped standing up for me,” I said, voice catching “And I figured if I didn’t care, maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much.”

My throat tightened. “You mean that?”

“Yeah,” he said, his tone fierce. “I’m done acting like I don’t have a twin sister. You’re the best part of me, Jess. I just forgot that for a while.”

“He kissed you,” Jackson said quietly, as if reading my mind. “My best friend kissed my sister. You think that’s easy to forget?”

I looked down. “No. But he didn’t mean to make things worse. Neither of us did.”

Jackson leaned back, eyes narrowing just a little. “Do you like him?”

I hesitated. “1… don’t know. Maybe. He’s not the same Noah I used to roll my eyes at. He’s… different now. Kinder. More real.”

“Yeah, well,” Jackson muttered, rubbing his jaw, “he’s still the guy who kissed my sister and didn’t tell me.”

“He didn’t tell you because he knew you’d react exactly like this,” I said softly.

Jackson stared at me, then exhaled and gave a small, defeated nod. “Yeah. You’re probably right.”

Π

For a long moment, neither of us said anything. Then Jackson pushed back his chair and stood up. “Tomorrow’s gonna be fun.”

I smiled faintly. “It’s Tuesday, so that’s already a lie.”

He snorted. “Touché.”

As he headed for the stairs, I called out, “Hey, Jackson?”

He turned, hand on the railing.

“I miss us,” I said.

His expression softened. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “Me too, Jess.”

!!

And just like that, for the first time in years, I felt like maybe the space between us was starting to close.

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