Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 204

Chapter 204

Jessa

I knew the second I walked through the front door that something was different.

The TV was on.

Not just on- actually being watched.

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Mom was on the couch in her scrubs, feet tucked under her, half a cup of coffee on the table like she’d reheated it and forgotten about it. Some daytime talk show was playing, the kind she never watched unless she was home when she wasn’t supposed to be.

I stopped in the doorway, my backpack sliding down one shoulder.

“Uh… why are you home?”

She looked up and smiled. “Took a personal day. Had a couple doctor appointments this morning.”

My stomach tightened immediately. “Are you okay?”

She waved a hand. “Nothing exciting. Annual stuff. Bloodwork. The glamorous side of adulthood.”

I nodded, still watching her too closely.

She studied my face for a second, then patted the cushion beside her. “Okay. Your turn. What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine,” I said automatically.

She gave me the look.

The one that had worked on me since I was five.

the

S

I sighed and dropped my bag by the door, then went and sat down beside her. For a few seconds, I just stared at my hands.

“Something happened at school,” I said quietly.

Her tone softened instantly. “What kind of something?”

I swallowed. “There’s a rumor going around.”

“Oh boy,” she muttered. “Those are never good.”

“They’re saying I… paid Noah to be my boyfriend.”

The words tasted horrible in my mouth.

Her head snapped toward me. “They’re saying what?”

I felt my throat tighten. “That guys like him don’t go for girls like me. That the only way he’d be with me is if I paid him.”

Mom’s jaw set.

“And what exactly,” she asked very calmly, “is a ‘girl like you‘?”

I hesitated.

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Chapter 204

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Then the truth came out.

“Unattractive.”

The word sat between us like a bruise.

She stared at me. “Who told you that?”

I laughed weakly. “Everyone. For years.”

She reached for my hand. “Jessa–”

“Mom, don’t,” I said quickly. “I know you’re going to say I’m beautiful and special and all that. And I know you mean it. But that’s not how the world sees me.”

Her grip tightened.

“You mean that’s not how high school sees you,” she corrected.

I shook my head. “It’s the same thing.”

She was quiet for a moment. Then she said, “Tell me what happened.”

So I did.

I told her about the whispering.

About the girl at lunch.

About the way people looked at me like the idea of Noah choosing me was either a joke or a scam.

I told her how everyone had been so nice at homecoming.

How they’d told me my dress was beautiful.

How they’d said I looked pretty.

“And now,” my voice cracked, “they’re saying I’m so ugly that the only way someone like Noah would be with me is if I paid him.”

That’s when it hit.

Hard.

I put my face in my hands and just… broke.

I cried like I hadn’t in a long time. Not the quiet kind. The ugly, shaking, can’t–breathe kind.

Mom pulled me into her arms immediately.

“Oh, baby,” she whispered, holding me tight. “Oh, Jessa…”

“I try so hard,” I sobbed. “I try not to care. I try to tell myself it doesn’t matter. But it does. It still does. It always does.”

“I know,” she said softly. “I know.”

After a few minutes, my breathing slowed.

She brushed my hair back and looked at me seriously.

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Chapter 204

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“Can I tell you something?” she asked.

I nodded,

“I have made a lot of hard choices in my life,” she said pot all of them were perfect. When your dad died… I

was barely surviving. You and Jackson were three years old. I was working double shifts. I was exhausted. I was scared all the time.”

My chest tightened.

“I did my best,” she continued, voice thick. “But sometimes ‘best‘ isn’t the same as ‘enough.‘ And I think… I think there were times I didn’t see how much you were hurting. Not the way I should have.”

I shook my head. “You did everything-

“I kept the lights on,” she said gently. “I kept food in the fridge. I kept you safe. But I didn’t always notice the quiet things. The stuff you didn’t say.”

Tears filled her eyes now.

“I didn’t realize how long you’d been carrying this idea that you weren’t… worthy.”

I whispered, “It’s hard not to believe it when people tell you over and over.”

She nodded. “I know.”

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