Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 285

Chapter 285

Jessa

I knew something was off the second I walked into school.

Not in the obvious way.

No whispers.

No one staring.

No random comments under their breath.

That part of Ridgeville had finally gone quiet.

But this?

This was different.

This was… subtle.

Mariah didn’t come up to me at my locker.

She didn’t text me something sarcastic about how early it was or complain about being tired.

She wasn’t there.

Which was weird.

Because Mariah was always there.

I tried not to overthink it.

Maybe she was running late.

Maybe she had to talk to a teacher.

Maybe-

“Hey.”

I turned.

Noah walked up beside me, brushing his hand lightly against mine.

“Hey.”

He leaned against the locker next to mine.

“You look like you’re trying to solve something.”

“I always look like that.”

“Fair.”

He smiled a little.

Then his expression softened.

“You okay?”

I nodded.

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“Yeah.”

That part was actually true.

For once, my brain wasn’t spiraling.

At least not yet.

Because telling Noah about Oregon yesterday had…

Helped.

A lot.

The weight of it wasn’t sitting on my chest the same way anymore.

It still scared me.

Still didn’t feel real.

Still didn’t feel possible.

But at least I wasn’t carrying it alone.

And that mattered.

“Did you sleep?” he asked.

“Eventually.”

“Eventually isn’t a great answer.”

“It’s an honest one.”

He smirked.

“I’ll take it.”

I smiled slightly, but my eyes drifted down the hallway.

Still no Mariah.

That feeling in my stomach tightened just a little.

“She’s probably just late,” I muttered more to myself than to him.

“Who?” Noah asked.

“Mariah.”

He nodded.

“She’ll be here,”

“Yeah.”

I shut my locker, slinging my bag over my shoulder.

We started walking down the hallway together.

And that’s when I saw her.

Mariah was at her locker.

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Chapter 285

But instead of looking up immediately and making some comment the second she saw me…

She didn’t.

She stayed focused on whatever she was doing.

My steps slowed.

Something in my chest dropped.

That wasn’t normal.

“Hey,” I said when I reached her.

She glanced up.

“Hey.”

Her tone wasn’t cold.

Not exactly.

But it wasn’t her either.

No teasing.

No energy.

Just… neutral.

And that was worse.

“You good?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

That answer.

God, I hated that answer.

Because I used it too.

And I knew exactly what it meant.

Noah looked between us, sensing it too.

“I’m gonna head to class,” he said quietly,

I nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll see you later.”

He squeezed my hand quickly before walking off.

And just like that, it was just me and Mariah.

The hallway noise filled the space around us, but between us?

It felt way too quiet.

I leaned against the locker next to hers.

“What’s wrong?”

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Chapter 285

“Nothing.”

“Mariah.”

She closed her locker.

“I said nothing.”

“That’s not nothing.”

She looked at me then.

Really looked at me.

And yeah.

There it was.

Hurt.

Not anger.

Not attitude.

Just… hurt.

My stomach twisted.

“What?” I said softly.

She crossed her arms.

“You want to tell me something?”

My heart dropped.

Oh.

Oh no.

“How-“I started, then stopped.

Because I already knew the answer.

“Jackson told you.”

“Yeah,” she said flatly.

I exhaled slowly.

“I didn’t mean for you to find out like that.”

She shook her head.

“I didn’t mean to find out like that either.”

That stung.

“I was going to tell you,” I said quickly.

“When?”

“Soon.”

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Chapter 285

“That’s not an answer, Jess.”

“I just “I stopped, frustrated with myself. “I didn’t know how to say it yet.”

She tilted her head slightly.

“But you knew how to say it to Noah.”

That one hit.

Hard.

“It wasn’t like that.”

“Then what was it like?”

“He pushed me,” I said. “He knew something was off and kept asking until I told him.”

Mariah’s expression didn’t change much.

But I could tell she was listening.

“I wasn’t ready to tell anyone yet,” I continued. “I didn’t even know if it was real.”

“It is real,” she said. “You got accepted.”

“That doesn’t mean I can go.”

She paused.

“Money?”

“Yeah.”

That shifted something in her face.

A little of the tension eased.

But not all of it.

“You’ve been stressing about that all week,” she said.

“Yeah,”

“And instead of telling me, you just… shut me out?”

“I didn’t shut you out,” I said quickly.

“You kind of did.”

I swallowed.

Because she wasn’t wrong.

“I didn’t want to say anything until I had a plan,” I admitted.

“So I wouldn’t get your hopes up… or mine.”

Mariah looked at me for a long second.

“You don’t get to decide that for me.”

That made me pause.

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Chapter 285

“What?”

“If something matters to you,” she said, “I want to know. Even if it’s messy. Even if it’s not figured out.‘

My throat tightened.

“I know.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “I just… panicked.”

She sighed, running a hand through her hair.

“I hate feeling like I’m the last one to know something about you.”

“You’re not.”

“It felt like it.”

I stepped a little closer.

“You’re not.”

She looked at me again.

And this time the hurt was still there…

But softer.

“I just thought we told each other everything,” she said.

“We do,” I said.

“I messed up this time.”

Silence.

Then she exhaled.

“Yeah. You kind of did.”

I nodded.

“I know,”

Another pause,

Then-

“Oregon?” she said.

I let out a small, almost nervous laugh.

“Yeah.”

“That’s… far.”