Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 286

Jessa

I already knew before I opened the email.

That was the worst part.

Not the reading it.

Not the numbers.

Just… knowing.

Still, I opened my laptop anyway.

Because there’s always that tiny, stupid part of your brain that hopes maybe something changed overnight.

Maybe the number got smaller.

Maybe some miracle scholarship appeared.

Maybe reality decided to take a day off.

The screen loaded.

There it was.

Estimated remaining cost: $27,840 per year.

My chest tightened.

I stared at it for a long time.

Long enough for the number to stop looking like a number and start feeling like a wall.

A really tall one.

One I couldn’t climb.

One I couldn’t go around.

One that wasn’t going anywhere.

I leaned back in my chair slowly, pressing my lips together,

“Okay,” I whispered.

Not okay.

But… okay.

Because this?

This was real.

And pretending it wasn’t wasn’t going to change anything.

I closed the laptop.

Gently.

Like somehow slamming it would make it worse.

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Chapter 286

For a minute, I just sat there.

My room was quiet.

Too quiet.

The kind of quiet where your thoughts get louder whether you want them to or not.

You knew this was coming.

Yeah.

I did.

Then why does it still hurt so much?

Because knowing something and accepting it aren’t the same thing.

I let out a shaky breath and rubbed my hands over my face.

“I can’t go,” I said out loud.

Hearing it made it real in a way thinking it hadn’t.

Oregon.

Gone.

Not because I didn’t get in.

Not because I didn’t try.

But because I couldn’t afford it.

And for a second-

Just a second-

That old voice tried to creep back in.

Of course you can’t go.

Girls like you don’t get things like that.

I shut that down immediately.

“No,” I said, firmer this time.

Not this time.

Because this wasn’t about me not being good enough,

This wasn’t Ridgeville deciding my worth.

This was math.

Numbers.

Reality.

And yeah, it sucked.

But it wasn’t the same thing as being told I didn’t belong.

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Chapter 286

I stood up and paced my room once.

Then twice.

Then stopped in front of my mirror.

I looked at myself.

Really looked.

And for once, I didn’t immediately pick something apart.

Didn’t focus on what I wished was different.

I just saw…

Me.

A girl who got into a school across the country.

A girl who wanted more.

A girl who was trying.

That had to count for something.

Right?

I let out a slow breath.

“It still counts,” I said quietly.

Even if I couldn’t go.

There was a knock on my door.

“Jess?”

Jackson.

“Yeah.”

He pushed the door open and leaned against the frame.

“You good?”

I hesitated.

Then-

“Not really.”

He stepped inside immediately.

“What happened?”

I nodded toward the laptop.

“I checked the final numbers.”

He didn’t need me to say the rest.

His jaw tightened slightly.

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Chapter 286

“Bad?”

“Yeah.”

“How bad?”

I gave a small, humorless laugh.

“Sell–a–kidney bad.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s bad.”

I sat on the edge of my bed.

“I can’t go.”

He didn’t argue.

Didn’t try to fix it.

Didn’t say something like maybe there’s a way.

He just nodded once.

“Okay.”

And somehow…

That made it easier.

Because I didn’t need someone to pretend this wasn’t real.

I needed someone to sit in it with me.

“It sucks,” I said.

“Yeah.”

“I really wanted it.”

“I know.”

I swallowed hard.

“But…”

He raised an eyebrow.

“But?”

I took a breath.

“…it’s not the only way out.”

He watched me carefully.

“Meaning?”

“State school,” I said.

“The one an hour away.”

He nodded slowly.

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Chapter 286

“You’d still be leaving Ridgeville.”

“Exactly.”

“New people.”

“New start.”

“Less insane tuition.”

“Big bonus.”

A small smile tugged at his mouth.

“That doesn’t sound like giving up.”

“It’s not,” I said.

And for the first time since I saw that number…

I actually believed it.