All Chapters of My Bully Next Door: Chapter 101 - Chapter 110

EllaThere was something dangerous about being happy when you had spent most of your life waiting for happiness to turn around and humiliate you.I knew how ridiculous that sounded. Happy was supposed to be the goal. It was supposed to be the reward at the end of all the terrible days, the proof that things could change if you survived long enough. I should have been enjoying the fact that Beckett Carter walked beside me into school with his fingers threaded through mine, not wondering how long it would take before someone reminded me that girls like me weren’t supposed to have boys like him.But old habits didn’t disappear just because someone kissed you and told you that you mattered.Sometimes they only grew quieter.They waited until you relaxed.Then they whispered.Beckett’s thumb brushed across the back of my hand as we crossed the parking lot, and I glanced at him. He looked completely at ease, like he didn’t notice how many people were staring at us. Or maybe he noticed and s

BeckettI crossed the street three different times before I actually made it to Ella’s yard.The first time, I reached the edge of my driveway and stopped because she had told me she needed space. That should have mattered. It did matter. I had spent too much of my life ignoring what Ella wanted whenever it got in the way of what I wanted, and the last thing I needed to do was prove I still hadn’t learned anything.So I turned around.I made it halfway back to my front door before the look on her face in the hallway flashed through my mind again.Not anger.Not disappointment.Fear.I crossed the street a second time.This time, I made it all the way to her sidewalk before I convinced myself showing up would only make things worse. Maybe she needed one night without me hovering. Maybe every relationship had moments where one person pulled away and the other had to respect it. Maybe I was being selfish because I couldn’t handle not knowing where I stood.I turned around again.By the t

BeckettI stayed at Ella’s house until her mother called up the stairs and reminded us it was a school night.She didn’t tell me to leave. She didn’t threaten to come upstairs or make a big deal about the fact that her daughter’s boyfriend was sitting on the edge of her bed with the door open. She simply called out that it was getting late, and Ella answered that I would be leaving in a minute.Neither of us moved for at least five.Ella remained tucked against my side, her head resting on my shoulder while I held her hand between both of mine. The room had gone quiet after everything she’d admitted, but it wasn’t the strained silence from before. It felt exhausted. Honest. Like we had both torn open something painful and were sitting in the middle of the mess, too tired to pretend we knew how to clean it up.I didn’t want to leave her that way.I also knew staying all night wouldn’t erase what had happened.Eventually, Ella lifted her head. Her eyes were swollen from crying, and her

BeckettThe first night Ella stayed at our house, I said something I would give anything to take back.That was why all the blood drained from my face when I saw the message on her phone.Not because I had touched her.Not because I had climbed into her room or done anything she needed to fear.Because whoever was sending these photographs knew about a conversation that had happened inside my house, long before Ella and I became whatever we were now.A conversation I had never told her about.The assistant principal’s office went silent around us. Ella sat frozen with her phone gripped tightly between both hands, her eyes locked on mine while the message remained visible on the screen.Ask him what happened the first night you stayed there.Mr. Holloway stood behind his desk, saying something about preserving the messages, but I barely heard him. The only thing I could see was the doubt slowly entering Ella’s expression.Not full distrust.Not yet.But the beginning of it.That small

Beckett The bracelet belonged to Sean. There wasn’t a single person in our grade who wouldn’t recognize it. His little sister had made it for him when she was twelve. She’d spent an entire weekend stringing tiny silver hockey skates and football charms onto a thick leather band because she couldn’t decide which sport he loved more. Sean wore it every day. He joked that if he ever took it off, she’d disown him. I had probably looked at that bracelet a thousand times. Which was exactly why my brain refused to accept what my eyes were seeing. Nobody spoke. Not Ella. Not Lila. Not Mrs. Donnelly. Mr. Holloway left the photograph on the table between us, giving us all time to study it. The image wasn’t clear enough to identify a face, but the bracelet stood out against the dark sleeve as though it had been highlighted on purpose. Lila was the first to break the silence. “That’s Sean.” Her voice wasn’t accusing. It was confused. I understood the feeling. “No.”