Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 254

Chapter 254

Noah

I heard Jackson’s truck before I saw it.

The engine had this loud, uneven rumble that sounded like it had been through a few too many high school parking lots and winter mornings. It rolled up in front of my house just as I was pulling my jacket on.

I grabbed my backpack and headed outside.

Cold air slapped me awake immediately.

Jackson leaned across the passenger seat and shoved the door open.

“You move any slower and we’re gonna miss first period,” he said.

I climbed in.

“Good morning to you too.”

He snorted, pulling away from the curb.

The roads still had patches of old snow along the sides, dirty gray piles left over from the storm earlier in the week. Winter had

settled in for real now.

We drove for a few minutes without talking.

That wasn’t unusual.

Jackson and I had known each other long enough that silence didn’t feel awkward.

But this silence felt… heavier.

Not bad.

Just thoughtful.

Jackson drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.

Then out of nowhere he said,

“When did things get so complicated?”

I turned my head toward him.

“What?”

He shrugged like he hadn’t just dropped a philosophical bomb at seven in the morning.

“I mean it,” he said. “When did everything get so… complicated?”

I leaned back in the seat, thinking about that.

“I don’t know,” I said. “High school?”

He gave a small laugh.

“Yeah, but it didn’t feel like this before”

We stopped at a red light.

Jackson stared straight ahead, jaw tight like he was still chewing on the thought.

Chapter 254

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“Before it was just football,” he said.

I nodded slowly.

He wasn’t wrong.

Football used to be the center of everything.

Practice.

Games.

Film sessions.

Arguing over who ran the better route or who missed a block.

Now it felt like everything else was tangled up in it.

People.

Rumors.

Relationships.

The future.

“I think maybe we were just in the dark before,” I said finally.

Jackson glanced at me.

“What does that mean?”

“Think about it.”

The light turned green and he drove again.

“For years we just did our thing,” I continued. “Football, school, hanging out. We didn’t really pay attention to anything else.”

Jackson frowned slightly.

“And now?”

“Now we actually see it.”

“See what?”

“How much stuff was always going on around us,”

He didn’t respond right away.

So I kept going.

“You never really saw what Jessa was dealing with before.”

His hands tightened on the wheel.

“…Yeah.”

“Not really,” I said.

“And I didn’t either.”

That was the truth.

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For years Jessa had just been part of the background.

Jackson’s twin.

The quiet girl around the edges of our friend group.

And then somewhere along the way I actually started paying attention.

And once you see something, you can’t unsee it.

“I guess we were kind of idiots,” Jackson muttered.

I laughed.

“Kind of?”

“Okay, very.”

We pulled into the school parking lot.

Cars were already filling the rows, students walking toward the building in clumps with backpacks slung over their shoulders.

Jackson parked but didn’t get out yet.

“You ever realize how much people watch everything we do?” he said.

“All the time.”

“It’s weird.”

“It’s Ridgeville.”

He nodded slowly.

“Yeah.”

Small town.

Small school.

Everyone knew everyone’s business whether they wanted to or not..

Jackson finally turned the engine off.

“You think it’ll be like this in college?”

I shook my head.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because nobody’s gonna care.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“You really think that?”

“Yeah.”

“In college everyone’s too busy dealing with their own stuff,” I said “Classes, tootball, their own lives.”

Jackson thought about that for a second.

Chapter 256

“That actually sounds pretty great.”

“It does.”

We climbed out of the truck.

“”

Cold air bit through my jacket as we started walking toward the school doors.

Students passed by, talking, laughing, half asleep like every other morning.

Jackson shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets.

“You know what the weirdest part of all this is?” he said.

“What?”

“You.”

I blinked.

“What about me?”

“You’ve changed.”

I laughed.

“Have I?”

“Yeah.”

“How?”

He shrugged.

“You actually think about stuff now.”

“Wow. High praise.”

“I’m serious.”

I nudged his shoulder.

“You’ve changed too.”

He immediately shook his head.

“No I haven’t.”

“You definitely have.”

“Name one way ”

“You care more.”

He opened his mouth to argue

Then stopped.

“…Okay,” he muttered.

“Exactly.”

We reached the front steps of the school.

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Students crowded through the doors, the usual morning chaos starting up.