Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 279

Chapter 279

Noah

By the third day of Jessa acting like something was chewing on her brain, I was officially done pretending everything was normal.

At first I thought I was imagining it.

Everyone has off days.

Everyone gets stressed about school sometimes.

But this wasn’t just stress.

It was like she was somewhere else half the time. Sitting next to me, holding my hand, laughing at the right moments… but her mind was always drifting off somewhere I couldn’t see.

And the thing that was really getting to me?

She wouldn’t talk about it.

I wasn’t the type to push people. Never had been.

But after a week of this… I couldn’t just sit there and pretend it wasn’t happening.

So when school let out that afternoon and everyone started heading for their cars, I caught her before she could disappear toward the parking lot exit.

“Hey,” I said.

She looked up at me.

“Hey.”

“You busy?”

She shrugged.

“Not really.”

“Good.”

I reached for her hand.

“Come with me.”

Her eyebrows lifted.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

She hesitated just long enough for me to notice.

Then she nodded.

“Okay.”

I drove us out of town, past the edge of Ridgeville where the houses started thinning out and the roads got quieter.

Jessa sat in the passenger seat, looking out the window.

Chapter 279

She didn’t ask where we were going again.

Which was unusual for her.

Normally she would’ve been teasing me about being mysterious or guessing random places just to be annoying.

Today she was quiet.

Too quiet.

That tight feeling in my chest kept growing.

Ten minutes later I turned onto the small road that led up the ridge outside town.

The overlook.

It wasn’t some famous scenic place or anything.

Just a gravel turnout at the top of a hill where you could see the whole valley spread out below.

Ridgeville in the distance.

Fields and trees stretching out in every direction.

It was quiet.

Private.

And right now that was exactly what I needed.

I parked the truck and shut off the engine.

For a moment neither of us moved.

Jessa looked out the windshield.

The late afternoon light painted everything gold.

“It’s pretty up here,” she said softly.

“Yeah.”

Silence settled again.

Then I turned toward her.

“Okay.”

She blinked.

“Okay what?”

“I can’t do this anymore.”

Her brow furrowed.

“Do what?”

“This.” I gestured vaguely between us. “Whatever weird mood you’ve been in all week.”

She looked down at her hands.

“I’m not in a mood.”

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Chapter 279

“Jess.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

Her shoulders slumped slightly.

I ran a hand through my hair.

“I feel like I’m dating someone who’s halfway somewhere else lately.”

“That’s not fair.”

“I didn’t say you were doing it on purpose.”

She didn’t respond.

I softened my voice.

“But something’s wrong.”

Her fingers twisted together in her lap.

“Nothing’s wrong.”

I gave her a look.

“That’s the worst lie you’ve ever told.”

That actually made her huff out a small laugh.

Which told me I wasn’t completely crazy.

I leaned back against the seat.

“Look,” I said. “If you’re mad at me, just say it.”

“I’m not mad at you.”

“Did I do something stupid?”

“No.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Because I’ve done stupid things before.”

“I’m aware.”

I pointed at her.

“See? That sounded like judgment.”

She smiled faintly.

Then the smile faded.

And the silence came back.

1 studied her face for a second,

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Chapter 279

Then the thought that had been creeping around the edges of my brain finally came out.

“…Are you breaking up with me?”

Her head snapped up so fast I almost laughed.

“What?!”

“I’m serious.”

“Noah!”

“I’m asking!”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because you’re acting weird!”

“I’m not breaking up with you!”

“Okay, good.”

She stared at me.

“That’s your response?”

“Well yeah,” I said. “That was my main concern.”

She shook her head, but I could see a tiny smile fighting its way through.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“Thank you.”

Then my expression softened again.

“But seriously, Jess.”

Her smile faded.

“What’s going on?”

She looked down at her hands again.

For a second I thought she was finally going to tell me.

Her mouth opened slightly.

Then she closed it again.

My chest tightened.

“Jess…”

“I’m just… trying to figure some things out.”

“Like what?”

“College stuff.”

I exhaled slowly.

“Okay.”

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Спарты 270

She looked up at me cautiously.

“Okay?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s it?”

“Well…” I said, leaning forward slightly, “I’d like a little more detail than ‘stuff.””

She hesitated again.

“I got accepted to a school.”

I blinked.

“That’s awesome.”

Her expression didn’t change.

Which immediately told me something else was coming.

“Where?”

“…Oregon.”

For a second I thought I misheard her.

“Oregon?”

She nodded slowly.

“That’s… across the country.”

“Yeah.”

I leaned back in my seat.

“Well that explains the laptop addiction.”

She let out a quiet breath.

“I’ve been trying to see if there’s any way I could actually go.”

“Could?”

She nodded again.

“It’s expensive.”

My brain was still catching up.

“You never mentioned applying there.”

“I didn’t think I’d get in.”

“Well clearly they’re smarter than you give them credit for.”

She smiled faintly at that.

Then the worry returned to her eyes.

“I don’t even know if it’s possible.”

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Chapter 279

“Because of money?”

“Yeah.”