JessaBy the time Cassie finishes with my hair, the sun has dipped low in the sky, casting a warm orange glow through the salon windows.I can’t stop staring at my reflection.The girl looking back at me doesn’t seem like… me.The soft layers frame my face, bringing out my hazel eyes. My hair looks shiny and smooth, cascading over my shoulders instead of being piled into the same messy bun I’ve worn for years.My throat tightens.For so long, I’ve been used to hiding behind my hair and clothes. Seeing myself like this feels… strange. Scary, even.Mariah beams beside me. “Jess, you are literally glowing. Look at you!”I bite my lip, nerves fluttering in my stomach. “It’s… a lot.”“It’s perfect,” she insists. “Tonight, we celebrate the new you.”“Celebrate?” I echo, panicked. “You mean like… going somewhere?”“No, no,” she laughs. “Just a cozy night at my house. Face masks, junk food, chick flicks. No drama.”Relief washes over me. That, I can handle.When we get back to Mariah’s house,
JessaI wake up Saturday morning feeling like someone filled my chest with lead weights.Even with my eyes closed, I know the sun is streaming through my bedroom window, but all I want to do is pull the blanket over my head and disappear.Last night keeps replaying in my mind like a cruel movie on repeat.Daniel’s laugh.Jackson’s careless shrug.Noah’s silence.It all swirls together until I can’t tell which part hurts the most.Probably because it all hurts.I roll over and grab my phone from the nightstand, dreading the possibility of seeing photos from the party already posted online. My social media feeds are like landmines, and I never know when I’ll scroll right into one that blows up in my face.Sure enough, the first thing I see is a group photo of Jackson, Daniel, Noah, and a few cheerleaders. They’re grinning, arms slung around each other like life is perfect. The caption reads: Another epic night!Noah’s right in the middle, that stupid smirk on his face like he doesn’t ha
JessaBy Friday, I’ve almost convinced myself that maybe, just maybe, this weekend won’t be so bad.Mariah and I have plans to binge-watch movies and eat junk food instead of going to another one of Daniel’s wild parties. She promised me a low-stress night, no drama, no spin-the-bottle humiliation, no football players laughing at me behind their red plastic cups.I need that.God, I need that.But as I’m walking to my locker at the end of the day, the universe decides to remind me that good things don’t happen to girls like me.I see them before they see me.Jackson.Daniel.And Noah.They’re standing near the trophy case—same spot they always take over like they own the school. Jackson’s got his usual easy grin, soaking up the attention of a couple of cheerleaders hovering nearby. Daniel’s loud, animated, his hands flying as he talks. And Noah…Noah’s just leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets, looking effortlessly cool without even trying. His hoodie stretches over broad sh
NoahI can’t get the look on her face out of my head.Jessa.The way her eyes went wide, glassy with unshed tears. The way her lips trembled when she turned and walked away from me in the hall like I was the worst person alive.And maybe I am.At least to her.I keep replaying the moment over and over, like some kind of punishment.I see myself laughing at the football table, smirking like an idiot while Daniel and the others cracked jokes about kissing her.I hate it.I hate me.But when Jackson’s sitting right there, when half the team is watching, what am I supposed to do? Sit there and defend her? Admit that kissing Jessa Lombardi wasn’t a nightmare, that it actually… did something to me?Yeah, right.If I said that out loud, I’d never hear the end of it.Jackson would probably kill me.So instead, I laughed.Because that’s what they expect from me. That’s what he expects from me. After school, practice is brutal. Coach is on edge, Jackson’s in a mood, and the heat makes it wors
JessaMonday mornings are the worst.Dragging myself out of bed after the disaster that was Daniel’s party feels like climbing a mountain with no peak. My whole body feels heavy, and it’s not just from exhaustion. It’s from the weight of… everything.The spin-the-bottle humiliation replays in my head on a loop. Noah’s smirk. The laughter. Jackson’s voice cutting through it all, casual and cruel.I told myself I’d forget about it by Monday. That nobody would even remember by the time school rolled around.But deep down, I knew better.At our school, moments like that don’t fade. They spread like wildfire, becoming the kind of story everyone repeats in whispers in the hallways. The kind of story that defines you.And sure enough, the second I walk through the double doors, I feel it: the stares, the snickers, the little smirks people think I don’t notice.My cheeks burn, but I force myself to keep walking, chin up like my mom always told me to do when people were mean.It doesn’t help.
NoahI stayed sitting there long after Jessa ran out the door, staring at the spot where she’d been like some kind of idiot.At first, the room went quiet, the laughter dying off like everyone suddenly realized maybe they’d gone too far. But only for a heartbeat. Then, as if they couldn’t stand the silence, people started chuckling again, tossing out little jokes to cover up what had just happened.They didn’t seem to care that Jessa had bolted like someone had just ripped her heart out.Me? I couldn’t stop seeing her face.The way her eyes had gone wide and shiny with tears when the bottle landed on her.The way her breath caught like she couldn’t even get air as everyone laughed.And the way she’d looked at me—like I was the final nail in the coffin of every awful thing she’d ever believed about herself.My gut twisted.God, I hated that look.And I hated myself for being the reason she’d worn it.But what was I supposed to do? Stand up in the middle of the circle and defend her?No