Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 96

Chapter 96

Noah

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The party noise faded the farther I got from the house. By the time I reached my truck, parked a street over beneath a flickering streetlamp, it felt like another world.

The windows were fogged slightly from the chill in the air, the bass still pulsing faintly in the distance – just enough to remind me how close I still was to all the chaos I’d walked away from.

I dropped into the driver’s seat, shut the door, and let the silence swallow me whole.

My hands still ached from hitting Daniel. My pulse hadn’t slowed since. Every second replayed like a loop his stupid grin, that smug laugh, and then the words that tipped everything over the edge.

“No idea you were into fat chicks, Carter.”

Even thinking about it made my jaw clench all over again.

There was something about the way he said it – not just to be cruel, but because he knew everyone would laugh. Like Jessa was a punchline, and that was just the natural order of things.

I’d seen her flinch.

Then I saw red.

And I didn’t regret it.

Not one damn bit.

—

What I did regret was the look on Jackson’s face – part shock, part anger, part confusion. The guy who’d been my brother in every way that counted suddenly looked at me like I’d just wrecked everything we’d built.

And maybe I had.

Because what do you even say after that? Sorry I decked one of your teammates for insulting your sister? Sorry I can’t stand hearing her name come out of his mouth like that because it makes me want to break something?

Yeah. There’s no good way to come back from that.

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the steering wheel. My knuckles were red and swollen, a smear of someone else’s blood drying near my thumb. I flexed my fingers once and winced at the sting.

Jessa’s voice from earlier echoed in my head quiet, hesitant, but real.

—

“It’s hard being in Jackson’s shadow. But it was hard being in yours too.”

That one hit deeper than I wanted to admit. I hadn’t realized what I’d looked like from her side of things how she’d always been there, just on the edge of everything. Watching her brother and me take up all the

18:19 Wed, Oct 15

Chapter 96

and I was the one who crossed it.

My phone buzzed once against the console. Jackson’s name lit up the screen.

I stared at it, my thumb hovering over the answer button. But my chest was too tight.

What was I supposed to say?

Hey, man. Sorry I made a scene. Sorry I fell for your sister. Sorry I made you choose.

The call stopped before I could decide. The silence afterward felt even heavier.

So I let the phone fall back to the seat, leaned my head against the window, and closed my eyes.

The bass thumped again in the distance, laughter floating faintly through the night. I could still see Jessa standing there – brave and beautiful and caught in the middle of the wreck I’d helped make.

And sitting there in that empty street, I realized something I’d been trying not to admit for weeks.

This wasn’t just some crush.

This was the start of something I couldn’t walk away from – even if it burned everything else down.

18:19 Wed, Oct 15

Chapter 97