Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 200

Chapter 200

Jessa

The first thing I heard when I walked into school was:

“She paid him to date her.”

I didn’t even realize they were talking about me at first.

We were barely through the front doors. Mariali was still complaining about how early it was, and I was still trying to wake up my brain, when a group of girls near the lockers started laughing.

“That’s so pathetic,” one of them said. “Like… imagine having to pay a popular guy to pretend to like you.”

Another voice snorted. “I feel bad for Jackson. Can you imagine finding out your sister had to buy a boyfriend?”

My stomach dropped.

I stopped walking.

Mariah stopped too.

–

Slowly, I turned my head and realized they were looking right at me.

Not even subtle.

Not whispering.

Just… saying it. Out loud. Like I wasn’t standing ten feet away.

For a second, everything went fuzzy. Like my brain couldn’t quite catch up with the words.

She paid him to date her.

Mariah made a noise that was half groan, half growl. “Wow. People must be really bored to make up crap like that.”

I swallowed. My throat felt tight.

“Why,” Mariah continued, loud enough for them to hear, “can’t people just believe that someone is… I don’t know

happy?”

…

One of the girls rolled her eyes. “Sure. And I’m the Queen of England.‘

They laughed and walked away.

I just stood there.

Paid him.

Like Noah Carter would need my money.

Like I could even afford that kind of humiliation.

My chest felt hot and cold at the same time.

“Jess,” Mariah said more gently, “don’t.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” I muttered

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Chapter 200

“You’re doing that thing where you pretend you don’t care,” she said. “But your face says you care.”

I did care.

I cared a lot.

Because this one didn’t just hurt.

This one felt… designed to humiliate.

We walked to our lockers, and I could feel eyes on me. Not curiosity. Not even interest.

Judgment.

Like people were trying to solve me.

Trying to figure out what the trick was.

I shoved my books into my locker harder than necessary.

“Do you think people actually believe that?” I asked quietly.

Mariah didn’t answer right away.

Which was not comforting.

“…Some people will believe anything if it fits the story they already want,” she said finally.

“And what story is that?” I asked.

She looked at me. “That girls who look like you don’t get guys like Noah without some kind of catch.”

I nodded.

Yeah.

That tracked.

We headed toward first period, and it just… kept happening.

Not always out loud.

Sometimes it was a look.

Sometimes it was a laugh when I walked past.

Sometimes it was someone’s phone being very obviously angled in my direction.

By the time I got to class, my stomach hurt.

And the worst part?

A tiny, ugly voice in the back of my head whispered:

What if they think this because it makes more sense than the truth?

I hated that voice.

I tried to focus in class. I really did. But every time someone leaned over to whisper, my heart jumped.

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Chapter 200

By second period, someone had already made a fake “joke” about it.

“So, uh,” a guy in front of me said, half–turning in his seat, “what’s Noah charging these days? Adking for a friend.”

A couple people laughed.

My face burned.

“I don’t know,” I said, my voice shaking. “Maybe ask your mom. She seems like she has expetere?

That shut him up.

Barely.

At lunch, I almost didn’t want to go sit with Noah.

Not because of him.

Because of everyone else.

But then I saw him waiting, already watching the doors like he was looking for me.

And that decided it.

I walked over.

The second I sat down, he knew.

“Hey,” he said quietly. “What’s wrong?”

I hesitated.

Then I said it.

“They’re saying I paid you to date me.”

His expression went completely blank.

Then his jaw tightened.

“…What?”

I rushed on. “It’s stupid, I know. And not true. And I don’t even know who started it-”

“Who said it to you?” he asked.

“It’s everywhere,” I said. “It’s just… going around.”

Mariah leaned in. “People are bored and cruel and apparently have no hobbies.”

Noah pushed his chair back a little, like he was physically restraining himself from standing up and doing something regrettable.

“That’s not funny,” he said.

“I know.”

“They think you bought me?” he said, incredulous. “Like I’m a used car?”

I let out a weak laugh. “Apparently.”

His eyes softened when he looked at me, “jess… look at me.”

I did.

“I’m with you because I want to be,” he said. “Not because of money, Not because of pity for berene of abs You don’t have to earn me.”

That hit harder than I expected,

I nodded, but my chest still felt tight.

“People always do this,” I said quietly, “When something doesn’t fit what they think is ‘lowed, they lovers a reason.”

“They don’t get a vote,” he said.

“I know,” I said. “But… it still sucks.”

He reached over and took my hand under the table.

Let them look.

Let them talk.

For the rest of lunch, he didn’t let go.

And somehow, that helped.

But when the bell rang, I knew something had shifted.

The rumors weren’t just about us anymore.

They were trying to explain us away.

And that felt… dangerous.

Not because I didn’t trust Noah.

But because I was starting to understand something:

High school doesn’t like stories where the “wrong” people get to be happy.

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