Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 136

Chapter 136

Jessa

By the time the final bell rang, my brain felt like overcooked pasta.

I had spent all day trying not to float off the planet.

Noah Carter asked me to Homecoming.

And I said yes.

And he said yes back.

And then I spent every class after that pretending to take notes while internally screaming

+25 BONUS

Now I was at my locker, trying to remember how to exist like a normal person, when Mariah appeared like she’d been waiting for this moment since birth.

She slammed her locker shut, spun toward me dramatically, and wiggled her eyebrows.

“So. Homecoming.”

I tried to play it chill. Failed instantly.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah?” she repeated, hand on hip. “Girl, you look like you’re about to either pass out or break into a Disney princess ballad.”

I groaned and hid my face in my locker.

“I’m trying not to be weird.”

“You? Successfully not weird?” She laughed. “Never happening. Glamorous awkward is kind of your lane.”

I shoved her lightly. “You’re so supportive.”

“Just speaking truth.” She bumped her shoulder into mine. “Okay, so. Dresses.”

I blinked. “Dresses?”

“Yes, dresses.” She waved her hands like this was obvious. “We are going shopping tomorrow. We will find you something that makes Noah Carter’s brain malfunction.”

A spark of panic flickered in my chest. “What if I look—”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” she said sharply. “We already beat that storyline. You are not hiding at Homecoming. You’re going as you.”

I breathed out slowly.

She was right. And terrifying. And right.

1/4

Chapter 136

“Okay. Fine. Dress shopping.”

Mariah made a triumphant noise. “Atta girl. Phoenix moment unloc

+25 BONUS

We walked out toward the student lot, sunlight warm and late–afternoon–gold. Cars were rumbling, friends yelling across the parking rows, cleats clacking from the field gate where football players were heading toward the locker room.

And there he was Jackson

enough emotional stability.

leaning against his car like a moody magazine ad with too much jawline and not

He looked up as we approached, eyes flicking to me and immediately narrowing like I was fragile glass and a bomb at the same time.

“Hey,” he said, tone casual but jaw tight.

“Hi,” I answered, trying not to fidget.

Mariah just grinned and leaned back on her heels. “Evening, quarterback. Nice weather for sibling surveillance.”

Jackson scowled. “It’s not surveillance.”

“It’s absolutely surveillance,” she said sweetly.

He glared at her. She smiled wider.

Ugh. Something was going on there. I’d seen the way they looked at each other lately. Like a secret only they understood.

I filed it in my mental interrogate Mariah later folder.

“So,” Jackson said, very badly pretending he didn’t care, “you and Noah are just–what- going?”

I lifted my chin. “Yes. We are.”

His mouth tightened, then relaxed… a little.

“I just want to make sure he doesn’t-”

Mariah cut him off, linking her arm through mine.

“Jackson. Sweetheart. We all know you’d tackle Noah off a balcony before you let him hurt her. Relax your muscles before they explode.”

He made a noise like he wasn’t sure whether to argue or thank her.

“Good,” he said. “Just… be careful with your heart, Jess.”

+25 BONUS

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify