Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 119

Noah

The halls of Ridgeville High always sounded the same before first bell–locker da clanging, sneakers squeaking, voices echoing off metal and tile.

But today, it all felt sharper. Like the noise couldn’t quite drown out what was going on inside

my head,

Jackson stood next to me at our lockers, spinning the combination dial without actually opening his. He hadn’t said much yet which wasn’t unusual after Coach ripped into us yesterday, but still weird for him. Normally by now he’d already cracked a joke or tried to toss a football down the hall.

I leaned against the locker, half–watching him, half–thinking about what Coach had said about how close. we’d come to tanking our futures over one stupid weekend. It hit harder than I wanted to admit.

And then the hallway started to hum a little louder.

I didn’t even need to look to know why.

Jessa Lombardi had just walked in.

Her hair was down, soft waves brushing over her shoulders, and she wore this pale pink sweater that somehow made the whole hallway look brighter. It wasn’t flashy just… different.

I frowned a little, realizing I’d never seen her wear anything like that before. Then again, maybe she had and I just never noticed under those baggy hoodies she used to live in.

Either way, I was noticing now.

She walked past a couple of girls who paused mid–conversation to stare. But Jessa didn’t flinch, didn’t try to hide. She just went to her locker like it was any other morning.

Beside me, Jackson muttered, “Here we go.”

“What?” I asked.

He gave me a look. “You’re staring again.”

“I’m not staring,” I said even though I totally was.

Jackson snorted. “Right. Sure you’re not.”

I shut my locker and tried to ignore the way my stomach twisted. “She looks good, that’s all.”

“She’s my sister,” he said flatly.

“Yeah,” I said, still watching her. “I know.”

The words came out quieter than I meant.

Jackson groaned. “You’re gonna make my life hell, dude.”

1/2

Chapter 110

I grinned. “Probably.”

So I pushed off my locker and crossed the hall to where she was pulling out her books.

“Hey,” I said, voice rougher than I meant it to be.

“That’s new, right?” I asked, nodding toward her sweater.

“Yeah. Nothing weird. Just… away from here.”

Her eyes softened like she understood what I meant without me having to explain.

“Okay,” she said finally. “After practice.”

I smiled, relieved and probably looking like an idiot. “Cool. I’ll wait by the lot.”

As I headed back toward Jackson, I could feel his stare before he even said anything.

“You really just asked her out?” he asked, half amused, half horrified.

“Not a date,” I said. “Just a talk.”

Jackson crossed his arms. “Sure. Just a talk.‘ You keep saying that.”

“Relax, man,” I said, grinning. “I’m not gonna hurt her.”

He muttered something under his breath but dropped it when the bell rang

And as we started down the hall toward class, I couldn’t help glancing back one more time. Jessa was laughing at something another girl said, her face open and bright in a way I hadn’t seen in years.

And damn if that didn’t make my chest feel way too tight for a Tuesday morning.