Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 270

Out–of–state tuition.

That last one was the killer.

I leaned back slightly and rubbed my eyes.

“Okay,” I muttered quietly. “That’s… a lot.”

Which was a polite way of saying it was terrifying.

I’d spent the last hour clicking through every page of the university’s website trying to convince myself there was some magical section that said don’t worry, we’ll handle everything.

Shockingly, that section did not exist.

Because reality was a lot less friendly than that.

Reality looked like tens of thousands of dollars.

Reality looked like a single mom already trying to figure out how she was going to send two kids to college at the same time.

Jackson had a football scholarship.

That covered most of his costs.

But me?

I didn’t have that.

Not yet, anyway.

Maybe I could get scholarships.

Maybe financial aid would help.

Maybe-

I stopped myself.

Because “maybe” wasn’t exactly comforting when the numbers on the screen looked like that.

I leaned forward again and rested my elbows on my knees.

Part of me wanted to laugh.

Five months ago I was worried about whether people thought I deserved to date Noah.

Now I was staring at the possibility of moving nearly a thousand miles away.

Life was weird like that.

My phone buzzed softly on the bed beside me.

I picked it up.

Noah.

Did you survive algebra homework tonight?

I smiled without meaning to.

Barely, I typed back. Math is still my enemy.

Chapter 270

Three dots appeared almost immediately.

Tragic.

I shook my head slightly.

Then another message came through.

Still thinking about stuff?

My fingers hovered over the screen.

Because of course he noticed.

He always noticed.

I typed a response.

Deleted it.

Typed again.

Just college things.

A few seconds passed.

Then his reply came.

Yeah. That’s been on everyone’s mind lately.

I stared at the screen for a moment.

Then set the phone down again.

Because if I kept texting him, there was a good chance I’d accidentally say too much.

And I wasn’t ready for that conversation yet.

Not until I knew this was real.

I looked back at the laptop screen again.

Then slowly clicked over to another page.

Scholarships.

The list felt endless.

Some were small.

Some were competitive.

Some had essays.

Some had deadlines that made my head spin.

I exhaled slowly.

“Okay,” I whispered to myself.

Maybe this wasn’t impossible.

Maybe it was just… hard.

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(txen 270

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Which, honestly, was a pretty accurate summary of most things in life.

Footsteps sounded in the hallway outside my room.

A second later Mom knocked lightly on the door.

“You still awake?”

“Yeah.”

She opened the door and stepped inside.

She was still wearing her work scrubs, her hair pulled back in the messy ponytail she usually had by the end of a long shift.

She stopped when she saw the laptop and papers on my bed.

“Homework?”

“Sort of.”

She sat down on the edge of the bed.

“What are you working on?”

I hesitated.

Then slowly picked up the letter and handed it to her.

Her eyes moved across the page.

And the moment she realized what it was…

Her whole face lit up.

“Jessa.”

Her voice was soft but full of pride.

“You got accepted?”

I nodded.

She looked up at me.

“Oh my God, sweetheart.”

She pulled me into a quick hug.

“I’m so proud of you.”

My chest tightened a little.

“Thanks.”

She picked the letter up again, reading it more carefully this time.

“This is an amazing school.”

“I know.”

“And it’s… out of state.”

Chapter 270

Her eyes flicked to the laptop screen.

Where the tuition breakdown was still open.

The excitement in her expression softened slightly.

Not gone.

Just… thoughtful.

She looked back at me.

“Have you looked at the costs yet?”

I gave a small nod.

“That’s what I’ve been doing.”

She sat quietly for a moment.

Then she reached over and squeezed my hand.

“Sweetheart,” she said gently, “I want you to know something.”

“What?”

“I want every opportunity for you.”

My throat tightened.

“But…” she continued softly.

And there it was.

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