Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 170

Jessa

The stadium lights always made everything look unreal.

Too bright. Too sharp. Too much.

But tonight, standing in the packed Ridgeville stands with Mariah practically vibrating beside me, everything felt even louder. The kind of buzzing energy that makes your pulse flutter and your breath come short.

It didn’t help that every time Noah stepped on the field, my stomach flipped over like it was trying to do gymnastics it had no business attempting.

It also didn’t help that Mariah noticed.

“Oh my god,” she hissed, elbowing me. “You’re glowing. You look like you swallowed Christmas lights.”

“I do not!” I whisper–yelled.

“You absolutely do.”

I tried focusing on the scoreboard, the field, literally anything else… but my eyes kept going back to him.

Noah Carter.

Shoulders like armor. Determination in every step. Mud streaking his jersey. Focus carved into his face like the world depended on this game.

And when the announcer had said his name at the start, he looked up toward the stands.

Looked for me.

My heart had tripped over itself and never recovered.

Now it was near the end of the fourth quarter, Ridgeville down by seven, and the entire place felt like it was holding one giant breath.

“Come on,” Mariah groaned, clutching the railing. “If I get a stress ulcer before Homecoming, I’m suing this team.”

I couldn’t answer. My throat was tight from chanting and screaming and praying under my breath.

Coach sent in the offense.

The crowd erupted.

And then there he was again–Noah, jogging into formation, his helmet shining under the lights.

I could see the tension in his shoulders even from here. I could feel the weight in him, the pressure of the team’s first game without Daniel and how badly they all needed to prove themselves.

“Okay,” I whispered to no one. “Okay, okay, okay. You’ve got this.”

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Mariah leaned close. “Are you talking to Noah or to yourself?”

“Yes.”

She snorted.

On the field, the team lined up. Jackson shouted a cadence. The ball snapped-

And then everything happened at once.

Noah didn’t block.

He peeled off the line.

I grabbed Mariah’s arm so hard she yelped.

“He’s–he’s–what is he doing?!”

“Dude,” she gasped, “he reported eligible–look at him!”

Jackson threw the ball.

It sailed through the air, spiraling under the stadium lights like something out of a sports movie.

Straight to Noah.

The stadium went dead silent for half a second.

He caught it.

He CAUGHT it.

And then the noise exploded.

“GO! GO!” Mariah screamed so loudly she startled a toddler in front of us.

My entire body went electric. Noah tucked the ball and ran – actually ran – hurdling a defender, cutting inside another, legs pumping like fire, the whole crowd losing its collective mind.

I didn’t breathe until he crossed into the end zone.

Touchdown.

The scoreboard flipped to 20-21.

The bleachers shook. People screamed. Someone near us tossed popcorn into the air like confetti.

I wasn’t screaming. I wasn’t crying.

I was something else entirely – something bursting and weightless and terrifying and beautiful.

He did it.

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HE DID IT.

My hands covered my mouth and I started laughing

–

the breathless, shocked kind that feels like it

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might turn into tears without warning.

Mariah was shaking me by both shoulders. “HE SCORED! JESSA, HE JUST SCORED A TOUCHDOWN. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?!”

“That he ran really fast?” I squeaked.

“That he ran really fast for YOU.”

I shoved her, but I couldn’t stop smiling.

Ridgeville scored the two–point conversion. Then the defense held. And when the clock hit zero and the whistle blew, the stadium detonated in celebration.

Students poured from the stands like a blue–and–silver tidal wave.

Mariah grabbed my wrist. “Come on!”

“What? Wait

–

we can’t-”

“Yes we can! Everybody does it! Come on, your BOYFRIEND just won the game!”

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