Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 264

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Chapter 264

Jessa

The table exploded the second Jackson said it.

“I talked to Coach again yesterday,” he had started, trying to sound casual.

But Jackson had never been good at hiding big things.

“They offered me the full ride.”

For half a second nobody moved.

Then Mariah shot out of her seat like a firework.

“I knew it!” she shouted, grabbing his arm so hard his tray nearly tipped. “Division One! Oh my God, Jackson!”

Shane slapped the table.

“State University, man. That’s huge.‘

Jackson tried to play it cool, but the corners of his mouth kept twitching like he was fighting a smile that refused to stay down.

“It’s not official until I sign,” he said, though his voice carried that rare mix of excitement and disbelief.

Mariah pointed a fry at him.

“Oh please. You’ve been dreaming about this since you were twelve.”

Jackson shrugged like it was no big deal, but I saw the way his shoulders straightened.

He was proud.

And he deserved to be.

Then Noah said quietly, “Yeah… about that.”

Everyone turned toward him.

Jackson frowned. “What?”

Noah rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly looking a little sheepish.

“I got the same offer.”

For a second Jackson just stared at him.

Then his face broke into the biggest grin I’d seen in months.

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

Jackson stood up so fast his chair scraped loudly against the cafeteria Hoor He grabbed Noah’s shoulders and shook him

“Are you serious right now?”

Noah laughed. “Yeah, man.”

The table erupted again.

Shane practically climbed across the table.

Chapter 254

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“You two idiots are going to college together again.”

Mariah clapped her hands once.

“Of course they are. The universe refuses to separate you two.”

Jackson dropped back into his seat, still shaking his head like he couldn’t quite believe it.

“Division One,” he muttered, half to himself.

Noah leaned back slightly, the excitement still settling in.

“Guess we’re not done playing together yet.”

They bumped fists across the table.

And everyone kept talking at once.

Everyone except me.

Because sitting there listening to them talk about State University felt a little like watching a train leave the station.

Jackson was already planning.

Noah too.

What dorms might be like. What the training program would be. How insane the stadium looked when they visited last fall.

Mariah leaned toward Jackson.

“You realize I’m going to need season tickets now.”

Jackson smirked. “You just want an excuse to yell at referees in a bigger stadium.”

“Correct.”

The guys laughed.

And the conversation kept rolling forward without stopping.

Nobody asked me anything.

Not because they didn’t care.

Because everyone already assumed the answer.

I stared down at my tray.

Ridgeville Community College.

That was the normal path.

Stay close.

Stay home.

Stay where everything was familiar.

Stay where Noah would visit on weekends.

Stay where Jackson would come back during breaks.

Stay in Ridgeville.

215

Chapter 254

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But the letter sitting in my backpack told a different story.

It had arrived three days ago.

A plain envelope with a return address from a school I had applied to almost on impulse.

A college nearly a thousand miles away.

When I opened it in my bedroom that night, my hands were shaking so badly I could barely unfold the paper.

Congratulations.

Just one word had changed everything.

Because suddenly leaving Ridgeville wasn’t just a fantasy.

It was an option.

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