Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 81

Noah

(234

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my

The glow from my phone screen was the only light in my room. The rest of the house was quiet parents were downstairs, half–watching TV and half–arguing about bills, and I’d been sitting here for almost an hour staring at the same text thread, not even sure what I was hoping to see.

Jessa Lombardi.

–

something stupid and casual from

Her name was still there in my messages, the last text from weeks ago when things between us were… easier. Before the kiss. Before Daniel. Before everything blew up.

I’d tried to focus at practice earlier, but my head wasn’t in it. The plays blurred together. The coach had yelled

–

– again – that I needed to “get my head on straight” before Friday’s game. Like I didn’t already know that. Like I hadn’t been telling myself the same thing every damn day.

And yet, I couldn’t stop thinking about her.

–

—

How small she’d looked standing in the doorway last night. How angry and hurt she’d sounded. How much it messed with my head that I was the one who put that look on her face.

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I’d told myself showing up there was the right thing to do that I needed to apologize, to explain. But maybe that was just my guilt talking. Maybe I just wanted to feel less like the bad guy in my own story.

I rubbed a hand over my face and leaned back in my chair, letting out a long breath. The silence pressed in around me, thick and heavy. I was about to turn off my phone when it started vibrating in my hand.

Jackson.

For a second, I just stared at the name flashing on the screen. The last time we’d talked outside of practice, it ended with both of us angry. He hadn’t said it outright, but I could feel it – the distance, the suspicion.

Still, I swiped to answer. “Hey.”

There was no hello on the other end, no small talk. Just Jackson’s voice – low, even, but sharp enough to cut through the static.

“We need to talk.”

Great. The four words every guy loves to hear from his best friend whose twin sister he may or may not have kissed.

I swallowed. “Okay… about what?”

“You know what.”

The silence that followed wasn’t long, but it was enough to make my stomach twist. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “Look, if this is about-”

18:35 Mon, Oct 13

Chapter 81

“It’s about Jessa.”

There it was.

My chest tightened. “What about her?”

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“Don’t play dumb, man.” His voice cracked a little, the control slipping. “I saw you. At the game. You kissed her. And since then, both of you have been acting weird as hell. So I’m gonna ask you straight up what’s going on?”

–

I closed my eyes, pressing the heel of my hand to my forehead. I’d been waiting for this, but that didn’t make it easier. “Jackson-”

“No,” he cut in, “don’t ‘Jackson‘ me. I’ve been trying to give you space, trying not to assume the worst, but I can’t keep pretending I don’t see what’s right in front of me. She’s my sister, Noah. She’s Jessa. And she’s not herself lately.”

He paused, then added quietly, almost to himself,

“She’s been through enough crap without you being another reason she gets hurt.”

That hit harder than I wanted to admit.

I stood up, pacing across my room. “I didn’t mean to hurt her, alright? That’s not ”

“Then what did you mean to do?”

That question stopped me cold. What had I meant to do?

When I’d kissed Jessa, I hadn’t been thinking. I’d just… felt something I couldn’t ignore anymore. It wasn’t planned or strategic it was raw and real and completely reckless.

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But I couldn’t tell him that.

“Jackson, I swear I didn’t plan for any of this. Things just… got out of hand.”

“Got out of hand?” Jackson repeated, disbelief dripping from his voice. “You sound like you’re talking about a penalty, not my sister’s feelings.”

“Come on, man-

“No, you come on. You’ve been off for weeks. Coach sees it, the team sees it, and now I know why. You’ve got your head so tangled up in something you shouldn’t have started in the first place.”

My jaw clenched. “You think I don’t know that?”

“I don’t know, okay?” The words came out louder than I meant them to. I dragged a hand through my hair, pacing again. “Because I was stupid. Because she looked at me like I wasn’t just another jock with a big ego. Because “I stopped, forcing myself to breathe. “Because I liked her.”

18:35 Mon, Oct 13

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Everything between me and Jackson used to be simple football, jokes, late–night runs for energy drinks, plans for college. Now, it felt like I was standing on the edge of something that could either fix everything or destroy it.

And the messed–up part? I didn’t even know which one I wanted more.

Because when it came to Jessa… nothing about her felt like a mistake.

Not that first spark when I saw her standing under the lights at the bonfire.

Not the way her laugh got caught between shy and fearless.

Not the kiss that had been way too short but somehow managed to ruin my sense of balance ever since.

18:35 Mon, Oct 13

Chapter 81

I sat up, elbows on my knees, running both hands through my hair again.

Jackson was right about one thing -I wasn’t myself.

But maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.

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Because the “old” Noah Carter – the one who joked his way through everything, who cared more about his image than people – he was the reason Jessa didn’t trust me. The reason she looked at me like I was just another person waiting to laugh at her.

And if I ever wanted to make things right, that version of me had to go.

I picked up my phone again, scrolling to her name, thumb hovering over the screen. I wanted to text her to say something simple like I meant what I said last night — but I didn’t.

Not yet.

Instead, I typed a message I didn’t send:

“I’ll prove it to you. Somehow.”

–

Then I turned off my phone and sat there in the dark, knowing that proving it would be the hardest thing I’d ever done because for once, this wasn’t about the game, or my reputation, or anyone’s expectations.

—

It was about her.

And about whether I was brave enough to finally stop hiding behind the version of me everyone else wanted

to see.