Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 195

Chapter 195

Jessa

The car ride to school felt wrong in the quietest way.

Not the kind of wrong that made your stomach drop or your pulse spike–just the subtle, unsettling feeling that the world had shifted slightly to the left while you weren’t looking.

Mariah drove with one hand on the wheel, the other tapping along to the radio. She looked normal. Relaxed. Like this was just another Monday morning after another weekend.

But it wasn’t.

Homecoming had happened.

Noah had kissed me in front of half the town.

Jackson was Homecoming King.

And somehow, everything felt louder now.

“So,” Mariah said, keeping her eyes on the road. “Does it feel like everything changed overnight since Homecoming?”

I watched the familiar streets slide past the window–same houses, same cracked sidewalks, same corner where kids always smoked before school.

“No,” I said slowly. “Not overnight.”

She glanced at me. “Yeah?”

“It feels like it’s been changing longer than that,” I admitted. “Homecoming just… made it obvious.”

She went quiet.

The kind of quiet that meant she was thinking, not judging.

“I hate that Jackson is popular,” she said suddenly.

That snapped my attention back to her. “Hate?”

She sighed. “Okay, not hate hate. But it’s a reminder.”

“Of what?”

“That there’s still a divide,” she said. “Between him and me. Between the people who get to exist effortlessly in spaces like this… and the ones who have to fight to feel like they belong.”

My chest tightened.

“That doesn’t go away just because he likes me now,” she added softly. “Or because we kissed. Or because he said it out loud at lunch.”

I nodded. “I get that.”

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Chapter 195

+25 Bonus

She shot me a look. “Of course you do.”

We pulled into the parking lot, the noise hitting immediately–music blasting from open windows, laughter, shouting, engines revving.

And then I saw them.

Jackson and Noah at their lockers.

Surrounded.

Girls leaned in close to Jackson, laughing too loudly, touching his arm like it was casual. One stood too close to Noah, flipping her hair like it was muscle memory.

It shouldn’t have bothered me.

But it did.

Something inside me curled inward–not jealousy exactly, but doubt.

Did they even believe Noah and I were together?

Or did they think this was temporary? A fluke? A charity project?

Mariah stopped walking.

“Oh hell no,” she muttered.

Before I could react, she marched straight into the crowd, grabbed Jackson by the front of his jacket, and kissed

him.

Not a shy kiss.

Not a polite one.

A statement.

The hallway went silent.

When she pulled back, she turned to the girls and smiled sweetly.

“In case you forgot,” she said clearly, “he’s mine.”

Then she slid right back into Jackson’s arms like she’d always belonged there.

Jackson laughed–loud and real–and wrapped his arms around her without hesitation.

The girls scattered.

I stood there frozen, heart pounding.

Part of me felt proud.

Part of me felt awed.

Chapter 198

+25 Bonus

Noah wasn’t Daniel. He wasn’t cruel. He wasn’t hiding me.

But insecurity isn’t logical–it’s loud and persistent and born from years of being told you weren’t worth choosing publicly.

The bell rang, shattering the moment.

As we moved toward class, Noah’s hand brushed mine again, deliberate this time. He laced our fingers together like it was the most natural thing in the world.

And people noticed.

Heads turned.

Whispers followed.

My heart stuttered.

That’s when I realized something.

Noah didn’t do grand gestures.

He did consistent ones.

He didn’t shout ownership.

He showed up.

Still… a part of me wished–just once–that he’d say it out loud.

That he’d make it undeniable.

That no one would ever question it again.

As we reached my classroom, he squeezed my hand. “I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Later.”

He leaned down, brushing a quick kiss against my temple before walking away.

I stood there for a second longer than necessary, watching him go.

Maybe someday he’d make the big statement.

Or maybe… this was his way of claiming me.

And maybe the real question wasn’t whether the school believed we were together.

Maybe it was whether I believed I deserved to be claimed at all.

I squared my shoulders and walked into class.

I wasn’t invisible anymore.

Even if I was still learning how to stand in the light.