The Summer I Turned Pretty, #2
It's Not Summer Without You
by Jenny Han
Contents
Chapter One
Overview
Belly drifts from a blissful Cousins memory with Conrad to a present defined by Susannah’s death. At a backyard hangout, she rebuffs Cory’s teasing, endures Taylor’s push to move on, and agrees to attend a party. Belly admits she won’t return to Cousins and cannot let go of Conrad.
Summary
Belly recalls a hot day in Cousins when Conrad, Jeremiah, and Steven returned from surfing. Conrad gently teased her, then kissed her, before Jeremiah shoved him into the pool. Belly jumped in too, feeling that Cousins was the only place she belonged.
The scene snaps to the present: Belly lies at Marcy Yoo’s pool with Taylor and other girls. It has been two months since Susannah died, and Belly struggles to accept the loss. She is home this July instead of at Cousins and feels summer already oppressive and empty.
Cory Wheeler startles Belly by pressing a cold Coke can to her neck. She snaps at him, then feels embarrassed as the other girls watch. Cory apologizes and drifts away, leaving Belly regretful for overreacting.
Taylor tries to smooth things over, insisting Cory likes Belly and suggesting they get ready together for Justin Ettelbrick’s party. Belly, overheated and withdrawn, agrees to the hair help and tentatively to attend, though she feels out of place.
Reflecting, Belly mourns missing Cousins for the first time and the life she expected there. Taylor urges her to move on from Conrad, but Belly refuses. To Belly, Conrad is inseparable from Jeremiah and Susannah; forgetting him would betray those memories. She holds to the belief and love that once defined her summers.
Who Appears
- BellyNarrator grieving Susannah, longing for Cousins, remembering a kiss with Conrad, uneasy at Marcy’s pool, and resisting moving on.
- TaylorBest friend pushing Belly to attend Justin’s party and to move on from Conrad; offers to help her get ready.
- Cory WheelerPlayfully chills Belly with a Coke can, gets snapped at, apologizes; clearly interested in her.
- ConradAppears in Belly’s memory kissing her; remains her first love she refuses to forget.
- Marcy YooHost of the backyard hangout where Belly and friends lounge by the pool.
- JeremiahIn memory, jokes and tosses Conrad into the pool; part of Belly’s entwined summer family.
- SusannahRecently deceased; her absence shapes Belly’s grief and refusal to let go of Conrad.
- StevenIn memory, surfs with the boys; the subject of their teasing about lost shorts.
- KatieFriend at the pool who silently judges Belly after the incident with Cory.
- EvelynFriend at the pool mirroring Katie’s judgmental reaction to Belly’s outburst.