Lahat ng Kabanata ng Invisible To Her Bully: Kabanata 261 - Kabanata 270

JessaBenny’s always smelled like fries and melted cheese and victory.The neon beer signs glowed against the windows, fogged up from too many people crowding in at once. Half the football team was already there when Mariah and I walked in, snow still melting off our boots, the place buzzing with post-game adrenaline.It felt different tonight, though.Not just because they won.Because it was the last one.Ever.Shane was halfway standing on a booth yelling about his interception like it needed its own press conference. Someone had dragged two tables together. Parents were in one corner pretending not to eavesdrop. A few underclassmen hovered like they were watching seniors step into some mythical ending.Mariah slid into the booth across from me and stole one of my fries without asking.“You look like you’re thinking too hard,” she said.“I am,” I admitted.“About?”I hesitated.“Christmas.”Mariah blinked. “You just watched your boyfriend win his last high school game and your brai

JessaMarch in Ridgeville was a liar.It looked like spring if you squinted—sunlight on the cracked sidewalks, patches of grass pretending they weren’t still half-dead—but the wind still had teeth, and the snow didn’t so much “melt” as it retreated into ugly gray piles that refused to leave. Slush lived in the parking lot like it paid rent. The air smelled like wet pavement and thawing dirt and the weird hope that winter might finally be done with us.I used to hate mornings like this.Not because of the weather—because of everything else.Because walking into Ridgeville High used to feel like stepping into a room where everyone had already decided who I was supposed to be.Now… it was different.Not perfect. Just different.I pulled my jacket tighter as Mariah and I crossed the student lot. She was talking fast, hands flying, like she had a motor in her chest that never shut off.“So I’m just saying, if you put one more ‘motivational quote’ on your planner, I’m calling an exorcist,”

JessaThe hallway emptied faster than it had any right to.One second it was chaos—lockers slamming, people yelling across the corridor, someone sprinting like their life depended on making it to class on time—and the next it was just… quiet enough to hear your own thoughts.Which was exactly the problem.Because my thoughts had been getting louder lately.Noah was still walking beside me, our hands linked automatically like they had been for months now. It had become something natural between us—no hesitation, no awkwardness. Just a quiet understanding that we fit together there.He squeezed my fingers lightly.“You’re thinking again.”I glanced up at him. “Is it that obvious?”“Only to me.”Of course it was.I tried to smile, but it felt a little forced this time.Because my brain had not stopped replaying the conversation from lunch.Jackson and Noah both going to State University.Division One football.Full rides.Their futures were suddenly very real.And suddenly very clear.Th

JessaThe sundae was mostly gone.What was left had turned into that melted swirl of chocolate syrup and ice cream that nobody really admits they still like eating but secretly does anyway.Noah was leaning back against the booth, one arm stretched across the top of the seat like he had nowhere else in the world he needed to be.Which made the knot in my chest tighten a little.Because I wanted to tell him.I really did.The words were sitting right there, practically pushing against my teeth.I got accepted somewhere.It should’ve been easy.But it wasn’t.Because telling him meant more than just sharing good news.It meant opening a door to a conversation I wasn’t ready to have yet.What if I couldn’t afford it?What if my mom looked at the tuition and just shook her head because sending twins to college was already terrifying enough without adding out-of-state costs on top of it?What if I told Noah I might leave…And then it never even happened?That would just hurt him for no rea

NoahIt was quiet in my room.Too quiet.The kind of quiet that makes your brain louder than it needs to be.I was sitting on my bed with my phone in my hand, staring at the ceiling like the answers to life might be written in the cracks in the paint.Which, spoiler alert—they weren’t.But my brain kept replaying the same thing over and over anyway.Jess.The ice cream place.The way she kept getting quiet.The way she kept starting to say something… and then stopping.I rolled onto my side and tossed the phone onto the mattress.“Okay,” I muttered to myself. “What the hell was that?”Because Jess had almost told me something.I knew it.I’d seen it happen.A couple times, actually.Once when we were talking about college.Once when I asked her if she’d applied anywhere else.She’d opened her mouth like she was about to say something real.Then backed out.Which wasn’t like her.Jess usually just… said things. Maybe awkwardly, maybe a little too honestly sometimes, but she didn’t usua