Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 196

+25 Bonus

Chapter 196

Noali

By the time practice ended, my arms felt like rubber and my brain felt like it had been put through a blender.

Coach had been in one of those moods–everything needed to be sharper, faster, cleaner. No excuses. No sloppiness. We ran drills until the sky started shifting into that dusky, purple–orange in–between, and even then he kept us out for “one more rep” about five times.

Normally, I’d be fine with it. I liked the structure. Liked the burn in my muscles, the way football shut my head up for a few hours.

Today, though? My mind kept drifting.

To Jessa.

Which was… new. And distracting. And kind of amazing.

When we finally got into the locker room, the noise level jumped instantly–guys laughing, complaining, throwing towels, the usual chaos. Jackson dropped down on the bench next to me and yanked his shoulder pads off.

“You’re quiet,” he said.

“Just tired.”

He gave me a look that said he didn’t totally buy that, but he didn’t push. Instead, he smirked. “So. You coming over?”

I blinked. “To your place?”

“Yeah. Mom made too much spaghetti. Again. She’s on one of her ‘feed the entire town‘ kicks.”

I hesitated for about half a second. The real reason I wanted to go over had nothing to do with spaghetti.

“…Yeah,” I said. “Sure.”

He grinned like he knew exactly why I said yes.

We showered, changed, and headed out to the parking lot. The air was cooler now, carrying that fall smell that meant summer was officially dead and gone. Jackson tossed his bag into his trunk and looked over at me.

“You good?”

“Yeah,” I said automatically.

He studied me for a second, then shrugged. “Cool. Let’s go.”

The drive over was mostly quiet, the radio low in the background. My leg bounced the whole time, and I didn’t even realize I was doing it until Jackson glanced at it.

“You nervous or something?” he asked.

1/7

Chapter 196

+25 Borus

“No,” I said too fast. Then, after a second, “Okay, maybe a little.”

He laughed. “Dude. You’re going to my house. You’ve been there like a thousand times.”

“Not for this,” I muttered.

“For what?”

I shot him a look. He just smirked.

“Relax,” he said. “She likes you. That’s kind of obvious.”

My chest tightened a little at that. “Yeah. I know.”

Did I?

I did. I thought I did. But part of me still felt like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like this was all a really elaborate joke the universe was playing on me.

We pulled into his driveway, and the lights were already on inside. His mom’s car was there too.

Great. Witnesses.

We went in through the front door, and the smell of garlic and tomato sauce hit me immediately.

“Told you,” Jackson said. “Spaghetti apocalypse.”

His mom’s voice floated in from the kitchen. “Is that you? And is that Noah?”

“Unfortunately,” Jackson called back.

She laughed. “You boys wash up. Dinner’s almost ready.”

We dropped our bags by the stairs, and Jackson headed toward the kitchen. I followed–then stopped when I saw her.

Jessa was sitting at the table, her backpack at her feet, a notebook open in front of her like she’d been trying to do homework and gave up halfway through.

She looked up when we came in.

And smiled.

Not a polite smile. Not a small one.

A real one.

My chest did something stupid.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey,” I said back, suddenly very aware of how sweaty and gross I probably still was.

Jackson looked between us and smirked. “I’m gonna go steal food before Mom yells at me. Don’t break anything”

2/7

Chapter 156

+25 Bonus

He disappeared into the kitchen, leaving us alone in the dining room.

Jessa stood up. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”

“Yeah,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “I, uh… came with Jackson.”

She tilted her head, studying me. “Why?”

The question wasn’t suspicious. It was just… curious.

And honest.

I swallowed. “I missed you.”

”

Her eyes widened just a little.

“Oh,” she said softly.

Then she smiled again, and it was somehow even better than the first one.

We stood there for a second, just looking at each other like idiots.

Then she laughed quietly. “You’re going to make me get used to hearing that, you know.”

“Good,” I said before I could stop myself. “That’s kind of the idea.”

Her cheeks turned pink.

We moved to the table and sat down, facing each other. The house felt warm and normal and safe in a way that made my shoulders finally relax.

“How was practice?” she asked.

“Long,” I said. “Coach was in a mood.”

“Isn’t he always?”

“Yeah, but today was extra.”

She smiled, then hesitated. “School was… weird today.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Same.”

We didn’t have to explain what we meant. We both knew.

There was a pause, and she picked at the edge of her notebook.

“Can I ask you something?” she said.

“Always.”

She looked up at me. “Everything was good at Homecoming. And then… it’s like people woke up the next day and decided to be awful again. What changed?”

I thought about that for a second.

3/7

Chapter 198

+25 Bonus

“Nothing,” I said finally. “That’s kind of the problem. People like things when they’re exciting and shiny. Then they get bored. Or jealous. Or uncomfortable.”

She frowned. “Why uncomfortable?”

“Because it’s easier to believe the world stays the same,” I said. “That people stay in their little boxes. When someone steps out of the box, it freaks them out.”

She was quiet for a moment.

“Do you ever wish we could just… not care?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “But I don’t think that’s how people work. We just… learn whose opinions matter.”

Her eyes searched my face. “And whose do?”

I didn’t hesitate. “Yours.”

That made her look down again, but she was smiling.

Before things could get too heavy, Jackson’s mom called from the kitchen, “Food!”

Jackson practically sprinted to the table, already carrying a plate.

Dinner was loud and normal and full of teasing. Jackson’s mom kept making comments about how nice it was to see both of us over, and Jackson kept pretending not to notice the way she kept looking between me and Jessa with a knowing smile.

After we finished eating, Jackson went upstairs to grab something, and his mom started cleaning up in the

kitchen.

Jessa and I ended up back in the living room, sitting on opposite ends of the couch like we were trying very hard to pretend we didn’t want to sit closer.

I broke first and shifted over.

She didn’t move away.

We sat there, shoulders just barely touching.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify