Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 246

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Chapter 246

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Chapter 246

Jessa

I watched them walk away together.

Mariah in the middle.

Jackson slightly ahead, like he was ready to bulldoze the hallway if anyone so much as breathed wrong.

Noah lingering a step behind them, eyes scanning, jaw tight.

The crowd parted for them.

Not dramatically.

Just enough.

Like everyone suddenly remembered they had somewhere else to be.

I stood there for a second longer than I meant to.

The hallway noise came back in pieces – lockers slamming, sneakers squeaking, someone laughing too loud at something that wasn’t funny.

But my eyes stayed on Mariah’s back.

On the way her shoulders were set straight.

Not slumped.

Not shaken.

Strong.

I felt something twist in my chest.

“Jess.”

Noah’s voice was gentle.

I blinked, realizing he hadn’t followed them. He was still beside me.

“What?” I said quickly.

He studied my face.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.”

Too fast.

He tilted his head slightly.

“What’re you thinking?”

“Nothing.”

He gave me a look.

The one that says I know you better than that.

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“Jess.”

I sighed.

“It’s fine.”

His eyebrows pulled together. “What’s fine?”

“This,” I gestured vaguely toward the direction Jackson and Mariah disappeared. “All of it. It’s fine.”

He didn’t buy it.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “That’s not what’s going on in your head.”

I crossed my arms, suddenly aware of how many people were still pretending not to look at us.

“Can we not do this in the hallway?”

He didn’t hesitate. He stepped closer, lowering his voice automatically.

“We’re not in the hallway,” he said quietly. “We’re right here.”

That did something to my chest.

Grounded me.

I stared down at the faint red smear still on the tile where the paper had been crumpled.

I swallowed.

“I know this is going to sound bad.”

He waited.

I hesitated.

Because once I said it out loud, I couldn’t take it back.

“I’m upset,” I said carefully. “I am. I hate that they’re doing this to Mariah. I hate that they’re doing it to Jackson.”

“Okay,” Noah said softly.

“But…” I paused.

He leaned slightly closer.

“But?”

I exhaled slowly.

“I’m just relieved it isn’t me for once.”

There it was.

Ugly.

Honest.

Hanging in the air between us.

My face burned immediately.

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“I know that makes me a horrible person,” I rushed out. “I know it does. I should just be focused on how awful this is for them,

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Chapter 248

but when I saw it on her locker I just-

”

I shook my head.

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“I felt this tiny second of… relief. Like oh. They’re not looking at me. They’re not whispering about my weight. Or about how I don’t deserve you. Or about how I must’ve paid you. For once, I’m not the headline.”

My throat tightened.

“And that makes me selfish.”

Noah didn’t answer right away.

Which somehow made it worse.

I forced myself to look up at him.

He wasn’t disappointed.

He wasn’t shocked.

He wasn’t judging.

He just looked… thoughtful.

“Jess,” he said gently.

“It’s messed up, right?”

“No.”

I blinked. “No?”

He shook his head slightly.

“It makes you

normal.”

That hit harder than I expected.

I frowned. “Normal?”

“Yeah,” he said. “You’ve been the target for years. Of course part of you feels relief when the spotlight moves somewhere else. That doesn’t mean you want Mariah hurt.”

I swallowed.

“I don’t.”

“I know you don’t.”

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He stepped a little closer, not dramatic, not drawing attention — just enough that I felt it.

“You’re allowed to be tired,” he continued. “You’re allowed to feel like you don’t want to be the punching bag anymore.”

I looked down at my hands.

“I hate that this place does that,” I whispered. “It’s like someone always has to be it. If it’s not me, it’s her. If it’s not her, it’ll be someone else.”

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “It’s stupid.”

I let out a small breath.

Chapter 246

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“When I saw the ultrasound on her locker, I didn’t think oh my God that’s horrible first.”

He didn’t interrupt.

“I thought… thank God it’s not my locker.”

Saying it out loud felt like ripping something open.

“I hate that about myself.”

Noah’s hand brushed lightly against my arm.

“Don’t.”

I looked at him again.

“You’re not celebrating it,” he said. “You’re not laughing. You’re not starting it. You’re just… relieved you’re not the one bleeding today.”

That image made me flinch slightly.

He softened.

“Jess, that doesn’t make you cruel. It makes you human.”

I stared at him.

“You really don’t think I’m awful?”

He gave me a small, almost disbelieving smile.

“Jess. You’re the last person I’d ever call awful.”

That warmth spread slowly through my chest.

“But I still feel bad,” I admitted.

“Good,” he said.

I blinked. “Good?”

“Yeah. Because it means you care. If you didn’t feel bad at all, that’d be a problem.”

I huffed a weak laugh.

“Okay. That makes sense.”

He nodded.

“And here’s the other thing,” he added. “You’re not shrinking.”

That word again.

But this time it didn’t sting.

“You’re not hiding,” he continued. “You’re standing here. You didn’t run. You didn’t shut down.”

I hadn’t even noticed that.

I’d stayed.

I’d watched.

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I’d faced it.

“That’s different,” he said quietly.

My chest tightened.

“I don’t want to be the girl who only feels okay when someone else is getting hurt,” I said.

“You’re not.”