Invisible To Her Bully Chapter 44

Jessa

I yanked open the passenger door of Mariah’s car and tossed my bag onto the floorboard with way more force than necessary. The slam of the door rattled the whole vehicle, and Mariah raised her eyebrows at me, already knowing something was up.

“Good morning to you too,” she said dryly, putting the car into drive. “What’s with the dramatic entrance? Did your mom forget to buy coffee or something?”

I folded my arms tightly across my chest, staring straight ahead. My throat felt tight, my heart pounding like I’d just sprinted down the driveway instead of stomping out of my house. “Just drive,” I muttered, my voice sharp and low.

Mariah gave me a side glance. “Oh no, no, no. You don’t get to say ‘just drive’ like you’re in some action movie. Spill it, Jessa. What happened?”

My jaw clenched. I didn’t want to talk about it — not really. If I said it out loud, it would make it real. But the anger boiling inside me wouldn’t stay contained, and by the time we reached the end of my street, it came spilling out in a rush.

“I’m tired, Mariah,” I snapped, my voice trembling. “So freaking tired of never being enough. Of never being seen.”

Mariah’s hands tightened on the steering wheel, but she didn’t interrupt.

“I’m right there,” I went on, my words coming faster now, my anger bubbling over. “Right there in the same house, the same school, the same hallways as everyone else, and it’s like I don’t even exist. I try to blend in — and I’m invisible. I try to stand out — and I get laughed at.” My voice cracked, and I swiped at my cheek before a tear could fall. “It’s like no matter what I do, I can’t win. I can’t ever win.”

Mariah’s lips pressed into a tight line, but she stayed quiet, her gaze flicking between the road and me.

“And then this morning…” My chest heaved as I struggled to get the words out. “Noah. He just—” I stopped, shaking my head because saying his name hurt almost as much as his words. “He made another one of his stupid little comments about what I eat, like he’s some perfect judge of what I should and shouldn’t do with my body. Like he doesn’t even see how hard I’m trying to—” My voice broke.

I slammed my hand against my knee in frustration. “God, Mariah, I hate it. I hate me sometimes. I hate that I let everyone’s opinions rule how I feel about myself. I hate that I care so much.”

For a moment, the only sound was the hum of the engine and my ragged breathing.

Finally, Mariah blew out a long sigh and pulled into a parking lot just shy of the main road. She put the car in park and turned to face me fully, her expression softening.

“Well,” she said, a little smirk tugging at her lips, “it’s about damn time Jessa Lombardi finally emerged from her little cocoon.”

I blinked at her, completely thrown. “What?”

She reached over and grabbed my hand, squeezing it. “Jess, you’ve been sitting back for so long, just letting people walk all over you. You’ve been hiding behind hoodies and self-deprecating jokes, hoping no one would notice you.” Her tone grew fierce, protective. “But today? You’re angry. You’re finally saying what you feel. That’s not weakness. That’s strength. That’s you stepping out of the shadows.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “Yeah, well, right now it feels more like me having a total meltdown.”

Mariah rolled her eyes and gave my shoulder a little shove. “Please. A meltdown is throwing your Starbucks on the floor because they forgot your caramel drizzle. This? This is you finally demanding the world see you for who you are.”

I stared down at my lap, picking at a loose thread on my leggings. “But what if who I am isn’t… good enough?” The words came out so quiet I almost didn’t recognize my own voice.

Mariah’s expression softened even more. “Jess, you are good enough. You always have been. The problem isn’t you — it’s everyone else being too blind or too stupid to realize it.” She paused, tilting her head with a wry smile. “And maybe Noah Carter most of all.”

At the sound of his name, my heart squeezed painfully. My mind flashed back to the way he’d looked at me at the bonfire, the almost-kiss that had left me breathless… and then the harsh words this morning that shattered it all to pieces.

I shook my head quickly, trying to shove the memory away. “I don’t want to talk about him.”

“Fair,” Mariah said easily, pulling back onto the road. “But just so you know, I will absolutely key his car if he makes you cry again.”

Despite myself, I snorted. “You’d get arrested in like five seconds.”

“Worth it,” she said without missing a beat.

A laugh bubbled out of me — small and shaky, but real. It felt strange after the heaviness of the morning, like a tiny patch of sunlight breaking through storm clouds.

Mariah grinned at the sound. “There she is. My best friend. The real Jessa Lombardi. Took you long enough to show up.”

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help the warmth that spread through my chest. Maybe Mariah was right. Maybe I could find a way to step out of my brother’s shadow, to stop letting everyone else define who I was.

Maybe, just maybe, today could be the start of something different.

As we pulled into the school parking lot, I took a deep breath and whispered to myself, One step at a time, Jessa. Just one step at a time.