Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 138

Jackson

By the time late afternoon rolled around, I was climbing the walls.

I’d tried working out. Tried blasting music. Tried throwing a football into the yard until my arm was ready to fall off. Nothing touched the restless, knotted feeling in my chest.

Everything felt… weird.

Noah and Jessa.

Me and Mariah.

School whispering like they’ve been cast in some teenage HBO drama.

My life used to be simple: football, friends, school, sleep. Repeat.

Now my feelings had feelings, and I hated it.

So I grabbed my keys and headed downstairs, desperate to get out of my own head before I choked on it.

That’s when headlights swept across the living room window.

Front door open, foot on the step-

Mariah’s car rolled into the driveway.

And out climbed Jessa, arms full of shopping bags from every store in the mall, hair slightly frizzy from trying on a thousand dresses, cheeks flushed in that way she gets when she’s overwhelmed but trying to pretend she

isn’t.

Mariah leaned across from the driver’s seat, still talking animatedly – hands waving like she was auditioning for dramatic Italian aunt status.

It was almost wholesome.

Almost.

Until Jessa spotted me.

Her eyes flicked from me… to Mariah… back to me.

And she smiled.

Slow. Knowing. Smug in that special “I have dirt on you” sister way.

Oh no.

She knew.

Not everything, but enough. Enough that my face went hot and my ears probably turned a shade of tomato

1/5

Chapter 138.

Crayola would name “Humiliation Red.”

“Going out?” she asked, too casual.

“Gym,” I muttered.

“Uh–huh.” She lifted her eyebrows like she was starring in a sitcom. “Have fun… working out.”

Mariah coughed to hide a laugh. Failed.

I pointed at her. “Not a word.”

“I didn’t say anything,” she said, innocent angel voice engaged.

Her smirk did the talking.

Jessa finally headed inside, pausing in the doorway just long enough to send me one more I know you two have kissed look.

Door shut. Silence.

I exhaled and walked to Mariah’s open driver window.

She rested her elbow on the frame, chin in her hand, messy bun slightly falling apart like she’d been wrestling dresses right alongside Jessa. Probably had – she looked like she’d fought a tulle–covered dragon and barely made it out alive.

“So,” she drawled, “subtle as always.‘

“”

“Shut up,” I said – but my mouth twitched.

Her eyes sparkled like she knew I was lying to myself about not grinning.

“That face you made when she smiled at you?” she teased. “Iconic. Truly. I should’ve recorded it.”

“Don’t.”

“Oh, I won’t,” she said sweetly. “But I will treasure it in my heart forever.”

I groaned. “That was your fault.”

“Me?” Hands flying to her chest. “All I did was exist.”

“You grinned at her like a criminal escaping with the crown jewels.”

“Well,” she shrugged, “I did technically escape with something valuable.”

“What?”

“Your composure.”

I scrubbed a hand over my face. “You’re impossible.”

“And yet you like me anyway,” she said, maddeningly pleased.

I didn’t deny it. Couldn’t. The denial muscle in my brain had been malfunctioni outside Benny’s.

e she first kissed me

“So…” she leaned back, playing with her key fob, voice softer, “are we still pretending this is nothing?”

I stared at the fading sunlight on her dashboard, the tiny glitter flecks of shirt lint on her hoodie, the faint smudge of lipstick she missed wiping off after testing Homecoming makeup with my sister.

God help me.

“I don’t know what it is,” I admitted.

Her shoulders relaxed, like she’d been holding breath.

“Neither do I,” she said quietly.

“And everything’s changing,” I added. “Noah and Jessa. Us. The team. It’s like one wrong move and everything explodes.”

“Welcome to adolescence,” she deadpanned.

I snorted.

“Cool.” She nodded, casual tone fighting the thrill in her eyes. “I’ll, uh, drop off like a tired raccoon.”

“You look fine.”

“I didn’t mean-”

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