Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 256

Jackson

The locker room felt different tonight.

Not louder.

Not quieter.

Just heavier.

We were in Clearview’s stadium

away game. Their lockers. Their field. Their crowd already building outside. You could hear

the announcer echoing faintly through the concrete walls.

This was it.

Last game.

Not last home game.

Last high school game ever.

I sat on the bench in front of my locker, staring at my jersey in my hands.

Number twelve.

I pulled it over my head slowly.

Noah dropped down beside me, tightening the tape around his wrist.

“Last one,” he said.

“Yeah.”

We didn’t look at each other.

We didn’t have to.

He let out a breath.

“Feels weird.”

“We’ve been doing this since we were kids,” I said.

“Pop Warner,” he added.

I smirked faintly.

“You were terrible.”

“You were worse.”

For a second it felt normal.

Like any other pregame.

But then the weight came back.

I stared down at my cleats.

“I hope I’m actually good.”

Oxite 756

Noah paused.

“What?”

“In college.”

He stared at me like I’d just said the sky was green.

“You are good.”

“It’s different.”

“How?”

I leaned back against the cold metal locker.

“Here, I’m the guy.”

He didn’t argue.

“But in college?” I continued. “Everyone was the guy at their high school.”

Noah stayed quiet.

“I might be a big deal here,” I said, “but I’m about to be a small fish in a huge pond.”

He shrugged slightly.

“Everybody is at first.”

“That’s not comforting.”

He nudged my shoulder.

“Since when are you insecure?”

I let out a breath that almost sounded like a laugh.

“Always.”

He blinked.

“You? No chance.”

I shook my head.

“You just don’t see it.”

He studied me now

“You’re the most confident person I know.”

“That’s because I learned how to look that way”

He didn’t interrupt.

So I kept going.

“My biggest fear isn’t not starting,” I said. “It’s failing ”

Noah frowned.

“Failing how?”

+30 Bonus

“Like… what it I’m average?”

The word tasted awful.

“What if I get there and I’m just another guy?”

“You will be another guy,” he said.

I shot him a look.

“Not helping.”

He smirked faintly.

“You won’t be average.”

“You don’t know that.”

He leaned forward slightly.

“What’s this really about?”

I stared at the tile floor for a second.

Then the truth slipped out.

“I’ve always felt like I had to be something.”

Noah didn’t say anything.

“When your dad dies when you’re two,” I continued quietly, “people treat you differently.”

He didn’t move.

“They don’t mean to. But they do.”

I swallowed.

“You grow up hearing how hard your mom works. How strong she is. How she’s doing it all alone.”

Noah’s jaw tightened slightly.

“And you just kind of decide… you’re not allowed to screw up.”

The locker room noise felt distant now.

Muted.

“Football was the thing I was good at,” I said. “The one thing I could control,”

I flexed my fingers slowly.

“And somewhere along the way it stopped being just a game.”

He watched me carefully.

“It became proof.”

“Proof of what?” he asked.

“That I’m worth something.”

He exhaled slowly.

+30 Bonus

Chapte 26.

“You don’t need football to be worth something.”

“Tell that to recruiters.”

“I’m not talking about them.”

I shook my head.

“It’s different for me.”

“How?”

I finally looked at him.

“Because I don’t even know what my dad would think.”

That hung between us.

Heavy.

“I don’t know if he’d think I’m good enough,” I admitted.

Noah’s expression softened.

“You were two.”

“I know.”

“You don’t even remember him.”

“I know.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re failing him.”

I looked back down.

“You ever feel like you’re trying to impress someone who isn’t even there?”

Noah was quiet for a long second.

Then he said gently,

“I think you’re trying to impress yourself.”

I frowned.

“What?”

“You think if you’re great, it means something about who you are.”

He wasn’t wrong.

“And if you’re not great?” he added.

I swallowed.

“Then what?”

“Then you’re still you.”

Coach’s voice echoed from across the locker room.

“Five minutes!”

+30 Bonus

dinate Ph

Helmets snapped into place around us.

Energy shifted. 1

Guys stood.

I grabbed mine but didn’t put it on yet.

“I want to play pro,” I admitted quietly.

Noah blinked.

“You’ve never said that seriously.”

“I am serious.”