Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 63

A 224

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I stayed curled up in bed, the covers pulled tight around me like a shield, trying to block out the world. My room was dim- blinds drawn, the faint morning light barely slipping through the cracks. My phone buzzed on the nightstand for what felt like the hundredth time, but I didn’t even look at it.

I couldn’t.

If I saw Noah’s name… or worse, a message from someone laughing at me… I might shatter completely.

The house was unusually quiet. Mom had left for work at dawn, and Jackson had been pacing the hall outside my room for a while earlier, but he hadn’t come in. Good. The last thing I needed was a lecture from my perfect twin brother, Mr. Star Quarterback himself.

My head throbbed from all the crying I’d done last night. My eyes were puffy and raw, my throat sore, my heart… wrecked.

The images from the bonfire kept replaying in my head like some sick movie reel: Noah kissing me in that empty classroom, the way his lips felt on mine, the dizzy rush of hope it gave me.

Then Daniel’s voice.

The laughter.

The way everything flipped in an instant.

The realization that I had been nothing but a joke.

A sharp knock on my door made me flinch. “Jessa?”

Mariah.

I groaned, burying my face deeper into my pillow. “Go away, Riah.”

“Yeah, no,” she said flatly through the door. A second later, it creaked open, and she slipped inside like she owned the place, closing it firmly behind her. “You’ve been hiding in here all morning. I’m not letting you turn into a hermit crab over this.”

“I’m not hiding,” I muttered, my voice muffled by the blanket. “I just… don’t want to talk.”

Mariah crossed the room and plopped down on the edge of my bed, ignoring my very clear go away vibe. “Tough. You need to talk.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do.” She tugged at my blanket like she was trying to peel me out of a cocoon. “You’ve been through hell, and you’re just… what? Gonna rot in here forever while everyone else moves on with their lives?”

18:31 Mon, Oct 13

Chapter 63

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“Maybe,” I grumbled, clutching the covers tighter. “Sounds like a solid plan”

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Mariah sighed loudly the kind of sigh only she could pull off, full of exaggerated exasperation and love all

at once.

“Jessa, please. Look, I get it. Last night sucked. Like, Olympic–level, gold medal suckage. But you can’t just shut down like this. It’s Saturday. The world didn’t end.”

“It did for me,” I whispered before I could stop myself.

That finally got me to sit up a little, though I kept the blanket wrapped around me like a cape.

“Oh, babe.” She scooted closer, her voice gentler now. “Tell me what’s going on in that head of yours”

“No,” she said firmly, tilting my chin up so I had to look at her. “You just don’t realize how strong you are yet. They want you to feel small because it makes them feel big. Screw that.”

“I don’t feel strong,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. “I feel pathetic. Like maybe Daniel’s right and I’ll never be anything but the embarrassing twin who drags Jackson down. The girl Noah kissed because of some stupid dare or… or pity.”

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