Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 42

Jackson

Practice had been rough.

I sat on the edge of my bed, still in my sweat-soaked t-shirt, with my playbook open in my lap. The pages were blurry, not because I didn’t know the plays, but because my head was pounding and my thoughts were all over the place.

Noah was off his game — way off — and it was starting to get under my skin.

It wasn’t just today, either. He’d been weird for days now, quieter than usual, distracted. Even at lunch, he was distant, barely talking. And when he did open his mouth, he was sharp, like a coiled spring ready to snap. Coach noticed it too, and today he lit into him hard.

The thing was, Noah wasn’t just another player. He was my right-hand guy on the field. When he was locked in, we were unstoppable. When he wasn’t? It showed, and it showed bad.

And Friday night? We didn’t have the luxury of Noah being anywhere but perfect. A college recruiter was coming to watch. My chance at a full-ride scholarship, maybe even a shot at playing for a top school — it all came down to this game.

Which meant Noah needed to pull himself together.

I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to push down the frustration bubbling inside me. Something was up with him, and he wasn’t talking. I hated that. We’d been friends forever, but lately, it felt like there was this wall between us.

And if I was honest with myself, I thought I knew what part of the problem was.

Jessa.

The way Noah looked at her when he thought no one was paying attention… yeah, I wasn’t blind. But if there was something going on there, he wasn’t saying a damn word. And my sister? She wasn’t exactly opening up to me, either.

I didn’t get it.

Jessa had been… different lately.

The hallway blow-up with Daniel yesterday was proof enough of that. She’d put him in his place in front of half the school, and while part of me had been proud, another part of me had been ready to strangle Daniel for pushing her to that point.

And then lunch today…

I clenched my fists just thinking about it. Daniel running his mouth, cutting Jessa down like she wasn’t even human. Calling her pathetic, acting like she was some kind of burden — I saw red in that moment.

I’d snapped. Hard.

But as much as I wanted to go nuclear on Daniel, I couldn’t exactly act like I was blameless.

Because deep down, I knew the truth: I’d let it happen.

Maybe I hadn’t been the one calling her names or spreading crap about her, but I’d allowed it. I’d sat at the top of the social food chain and looked the other way every time someone whispered about Jessa or laughed at her in the hallways.

Why? Because it was easier.

Because if I spoke up, it would have put me in the crosshairs too.

But that was one line I wouldn’t cross.

Not because of Mariah — she hadn’t done anything wrong — but because of Jessa.

Jessa had been through enough. She didn’t need me screwing things up by going after her best friend. If things didn’t work out between me and Mariah, it would wreck everything. Their friendship, our family dynamic, all of it.

So I shoved those feelings down deep, where I shoved everything else I didn’t want to deal with.

Noah acting strange.

Jessa being bullied.

My own guilt for letting it happen.

Mariah.

I buried it all and told myself to focus on football, on Friday night, on getting through this week without everything blowing up in my face.

But deep down, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it already was blowing up.

And I had no idea how to stop it.