Invisible To Her Bully Chapter 47

Noah

By the time lunch rolled around, I’d made up my mind.

No more being weird. No more zoning out and letting people ask questions. No more Jackson giving me those suspicious looks like he was about to call me out in front of everyone.

I was done with that.

I needed to lock it down, push all this Jessa crap out of my head, and just… be Noah Carter again. The Noah everyone expected — cocky, confident, untouchable. The guy who cracked jokes, who got everyone hyped before practice, who didn’t get thrown off by a girl.

Especially that girl.

It was the only way to get my head back in the game, literally and figuratively.

Because if I kept walking around distracted like this, the coach was going to keep riding my ass, and the guys would never let me live it down. Not to mention Jackson. He’d been side-eyeing me all week, probably already wondering what was up. The last thing I needed was for him to connect the dots and figure out why I’d been acting weird.

So today? Today I was going to overcompensate.

As I walked into the cafeteria, I squared my shoulders and plastered on my best smirk. The noise level was already high — the clatter of trays, the smell of fries and pizza mixing into that gross cafeteria combo. Jackson and the rest of the team were at our usual table, Daniel front and center like he owned the place.

Perfect.

“Look who decided to show up,” Daniel called when he spotted me. “Carter, man, I was starting to think you were too busy crying over practice yesterday.”

The table erupted in laughter. Normally, I’d want to punch him in the face for that, but today, I just grinned and rolled with it.

“Crying?” I dropped my tray down and slid into the seat across from him. “Nah, bro. Just conserving my energy. Gotta save it for Friday night when I’m making you look bad in front of the recruiter.”

“Ha!” Daniel snorted. “In your dreams.”

“Not a dream,” I shot back, leaning back in my chair like I owned the room. “Just reality. You know, the thing you have trouble keeping up with.”

The guys howled, pounding on the table, and Daniel scowled.

Good. Let them see I was sharp, on point — exactly like I always was.

This was my strategy. Be loud, be confident, give them nothing to question.

Jackson gave me a weird look, like he wasn’t sure if he should be amused or concerned. “You seem… extra today,” he said slowly.

I smirked and grabbed a fry off his tray. “Just getting my groove back, man. You’ve been on fire lately. Figured it was time I reminded everyone why I’m the guy scoring the highlight reel plays.”

“Uh-huh.” Jackson’s eyes narrowed a little, like he didn’t quite buy it.

I shrugged, pretending I didn’t notice. “Can’t have you hogging all the glory.”

As the table kept buzzing, my gaze flicked across the cafeteria — totally by accident, of course.

And there she was.

Jessa sat at a table with Mariah, her hair shining under the overhead lights, her head tilted slightly as she listened to whatever Mariah was saying. She wasn’t laughing, exactly, but there was a small smile playing on her lips.

It shouldn’t have affected me.

But damn if it didn’t throw me off for a split second.

I quickly forced my attention back to the guys, tossing another cocky line into the conversation so no one would catch me slipping.

“By the way, when we win Friday,” I said loudly, “first round of energy drinks is on me.”

“When we win,” Daniel scoffed, leaning forward. “You mean when I carry the team.”

“Please,” I said, rolling my eyes. “The only thing you’ve been carrying is your ego.”

The table erupted again, and even Jackson cracked up this time.

On the outside, I was all swagger and charm, giving everyone what they expected. But underneath? My pulse was still going a little too fast, and my jaw was tight.

Because even while I joked and bragged, part of me couldn’t stop replaying that look on Jessa’s face this morning — hurt and angry after what I’d said about the cereal.

And that was the problem.

I couldn’t afford to think about her, not now.

So I leaned back in my chair, slapped a grin on my face, and told myself over and over:

Noah Carter doesn’t get distracted by a girl. Not even her.