Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 268

Chapter 208

Kad Bonds

Chapter 268

Jackson

Something was off with Jessa.

And before anyone says anything–yeah, I know Jessa has always been a little… different.

Quiet. In her own head. Thinking about things most people our age don’t bother thinking about.

But this was different.

This was weird even for her.

I noticed it the second I walked into the house.

I’d just gotten back from the gym. Ever since football season ended, Coach told a few of us seniors to keep lifting if we were serious about playing in college, so a couple afternoons a week I still headed over there.

The house was quiet when I pushed the door open.

Not empty quiet.

Homework quiet.

I dropped my backpack by the door and walked into the kitchen.

Jessa was sitting at the table with her algebra book open in front of her.

Her pencil was in her hand.

And she was staring at the same page like it might bite her.

“You gonna solve the equation,” I said, pulling out the chair across from her, “or are you trying to intimidate it into solving itself?”

She blinked like she’d just remembered where she was.

“What?”

I sat down.

“You’ve been staring at that page for like five minutes.”

“No I haven’t.”

“You absolutely have.”

She sighed and rubbed her forehead.

“Algebra hates me.”

“That’s fair,” I said. “Math has never been your thing.”

She gave a small shrug and flipped a page, but I could already tell she wasn’t actually reading it.

I leaned back in the chair, watching her.

The thing about being a twin is you pick up on stuff.

Stuff other people miss.

Tiny changes in tone. In posture. In the way someone breathes when they’re thinking too hard,

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And right now Jessa looked like she had a whole storm going on in her head.

“So,” I said casually.

“So what?”

“You’re acting weirder than usual.”

She froze.

I pointed my fork at her like a detective in a bad crime show.

“Don’t deny it.”

“I’m not weird.”

“You’re always weird,” I said. “But tonight it’s a different kind of weird.”

She gave me a look.

“That made no sense.”

“It made perfect sense.”

She dropped her pencil onto the table.

“Jackson, I’m doing homework.”

“No you’re not.”

“Yes I am.”

“You’re pretending to do homework while your brain is somewhere else.”

She opened her mouth to argue.

Then closed it again.

Which was basically confirmation.

I leaned forward, resting my arms on the table.

“Okay,” I said. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Jess.”

“I said nothing.”

I stared at her.

She stared back.

Then she looked away first.

Classic.

I sighed.

“You know that only works on people who don’t share DNA with you, right?”

She groaned quietly.

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Chapter 208

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“Jackson…”

“What?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

“Yes I am.”

“You’ve been staring at algebra like it personally insulted you, you barely talked at dinner, and you keep zoning out every five

seconds.”

She looked down at the table.

I softened my voice a little.

“Jess.”

She sighed again.

“You’re acting like something terrible happened,” she said.”

“I didn’t say

terrible.”

“Then stop making it sound dramatic.”

I shrugged.

“Fine. Something’s bothering you.”

She didn’t answer.

That was answer enough.

For a second neither of us said anything.

The kitchen was quiet except for the faint hum of the refrigerator.

Then I leaned back in my chair again.

“You know,” I said casually, “you don’t actually have to carry everything by yourself.”

She looked up at me.

“What does that mean?”

“It means if something’s on your mind, you can tell me.”

Her eyebrows lifted slightly.

“Since when are you the emotional advice brother?”

“Since always,” I said. “You just don’t appreciate it.”

That got a tiny smile out of her.

Progress.

I pointed at her.

“There it is.”

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“What?”

“You smiled.”

“That’s not a victory.”

“It’s a start.”

She shook her head, but the tension in her shoulders eased just a little.

I studied her for another second.

“You and Noah okay?”

Her head snapped up.

“Yes.”

“That was a very fast answer.”

“Because it’s true.”

“Okay,” I said, holding my hands up. “Just checking.”

She stared at me like she was debating something.

For a second I thought she might actually say whatever was stuck in her head.

Her mouth opened.

Then she stopped.

Closed it again.

Yeah.

Definitely something.

I didn’t push.

Instead I leaned back again.

“You know,” I said casually, “if this is about college stuff, you’re allowed to be stressed.”

Her eyes flickered slightly.

There it was.

“Everyone is losing their minds about it lately,” I continued. “Even Noah.”

That got her attention.

“Noah?”

“Yeah,” I said. “He’s acting like it’s no big deal, but you can tell he’s thinking about it.”

I shrugged.

“Everything’s changing next year.”

She looked down at the table again.

“I know.”

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2

Her voice was quieter that time.

And suddenly I understood something

This wasn’t about algebra.

This wasn’t about drama at school.

This was bigger

Future bigger.

1 leaned forward again.

“Jess.”

She looked up.

“You don’t have to figure everything out tonight.”

She frowned slightly.

“I’m not

“Yes you are.”

I gestured toward the open book.

“You’ve been trying to solve the same problem for fifteen minutes.”

She glanced down at the page.

“…Oh.”

I snorted.

“Exactly.”

For a moment she just sat there.

Then she looked back at me.

“If it helps you feel better,” she said quietly, “I’m still a virgin too.”

Iblinked.

“That was… not the direction I expected this conversation to go.”

She shrugged.

“I’m just saying.”

“Jess,” I groaned, dragging a hand over my face, “I really didn’t need that information.”

She tilted her head slightly.

“You’re the one who announced it like it was a public service announcement a few months ago.”

“That was under duress,” I muttered.

She laughed softly.

And for the first time since I got home, she actually looked like herself again.

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ted completely

But closer

I stood up and grabbed a glass of water from the sink.

“Well,” I said, leaning against the counter, “whenever you decide to tell me what’s actually going on in that brain of yours, I‘ be here.”

She watched me.

“You’re very nosy,”

“I prefer observant.”

She shook her head.

But she was smiling again.

And even though she hadn’t told me what was wrong yet…

1 knew one thing for sure.

Something big was coming

And sooner or later

She was going to tell me.

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