Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 207

Chapter 207

Noal

By the time I got to my locker, I could feel it.

Not hear it.

Not see it.

Just… feel it.

The looks.

The pauses in conversation.

The way people’s eyes followed me like I’d suddenly grown a second head.

Which was funny, because all I’d done was kiss my girlfriend on the temple and say good morning.

Apparently that was headline news now.

I spun my locker open and started swapping books, trying to act like nothing had changed. My hands were steady. My chest was not.

Behind me, someone said my name in a tone that meant this is about to be stupid.

“Carter.”

I closed my locker and turned.

Two guys from the team. One looked amused. The other looked like he was trying not to grin.

“So,” Shane said. “You just going to pretend you didn’t make the hallway your personal rom–com this morning?”

I sighed. “Good morning to you too.”

He laughed. “Dude, I’m not judging. I’m just saying. That was… bold.”

“Effective,” Chris added. “Also, terrifying. Jackson looked like he was five seconds away from committing a felony.”

I smirked. “That’s just his default setting.”

They both laughed.

Shane leaned against the lockers. “So it’s official–official, then?”

I didn’t hesitate. “Yeah.”

There it was.

Out loud.

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+25 Bonus

Not careful. Not vague. Not defensive.

Yeah.

Chris raised his eyebrows. “Huh. Guess Daniel really is gone, because the universe just did a full personality reset.”

I shot him a look. “Don’t start.”

“Hey, I’m not complaining,” he said quickly. “Just… didn’t expect this season to be the ‘everyone grows up‘ arc.”

Shane grinned. “First you. Then Lombardi and Mariali. Next thing you know, Coach is going to start talking about feelings.”

We all visibly shuddered.

“Don’t curse us like that,” I said.

They headed off, still laughing, and I grabbed my bag.

That’s when Jackson showed up.

He stopped short when he saw me, then shook his head. “You’re enjoying this way too much.”

“I am not.”

“You absolutely are,” he said. “The entire math wing is buzzing.”

“Not my fault.”

“It is literally your fault.”

I shrugged. “I woke up and chose chaos.”

He snorted, then sobered a little. “Jess okay?”

That mattered.

“Yeah,” I said. “She’s handling it better than I expected.”

He nodded once. “Good.”

We started walking toward class.

After a few steps, he said, “You know they’re not done, right?”

“I know.”

“The whispers, the looks, the dumb theories-”

“I know,” I said again. “But I’m not doing this halfway.”

He glanced at me. “I can tell.”

We walked in silence for a bit.

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Chapte

Then he said, “It’s still weird.”

I smirked. “You and Mariah are weird.”

He shot me a look. “You haven’t even defined what you two are.”

I grinned. “Neither have you.”

He muttered something under his breath.

I laughed.

Practice was… loud.

Not physically.

Socially.

Everywhere I went, someone had something to say.

Nothing mean.

Nothing hostile.

Just… curiosity.

“So you’re really dating her?”

“When did that happen?”

“Damn, Carter, you move fast.”

“Guess the season really is about character development.”

I ignored most of it.

Coach didn’t care.

Coach never cares.

We ran drills. We ran plays. We got yelled at. We got yelled at again.

Normal.

But in between reps, I caught guys watching me like I’d grown horns.

And I didn’t care.

Because the second practice ended, I saw her.

Standing near the flagpole with Mariah.

And everything else went quiet.

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Chapter 207

I jogged over and she smiled like she was trying not to look too happy.

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