The Summer I Turned Pretty, #2
It's Not Summer Without You
by Jenny Han
Contents
Chapter Forty-Two
Overview
Shaken after the confrontation at Brown, Belly, Jeremiah, and Conrad begin the drive home in silence. A violent storm forces them to stop at a gas station, then a motel. Belly declines her mother’s rescue. In the dark, Conrad admits he didn’t mean his harsh rejection, leaving Belly emotionally divided.
Summary
Reeling from the kiss with Jeremiah and Conrad’s demand for the necklace, Belly wanders campus before returning to the car. Conrad sits aloof in the backseat; Jeremiah, polite but distant, hands Belly the keys to drive. The silence underscores that Belly feels she has lost both brothers.
On the highway, heavy rain turns to gridlock and then hail. Jeremiah directs Belly to exit and wait at a gas station. After an hour, Jeremiah buys crackers and suggests a nearby motel, while Conrad withdraws further. Belly, hungry and exhausted, agrees without enthusiasm.
At the motel, Belly calls her mother, who offers to pick her up, but Belly declines and promises to leave early. Back in the room, Jeremiah and Conrad take the floor, giving Belly the bed. Memories of simpler summers with Steven, Jeremiah, and Conrad intensify her sense that everything has changed.
As Jeremiah quickly falls asleep, Conrad quietly speaks across the dark, retracting his earlier statement: he “didn’t mean it.” Belly, stunned and wordless, waits for more, but Conrad only wishes her good night. Unable to sleep, Belly replays his words and weighs them against Jeremiah’s earlier openness, recognizing she is caught between what she has always wanted and what she has suddenly begun to need.
Who Appears
- Belly (Isabel Conklin)Drives home in tense silence, calls her mother, and lies awake torn after Conrad’s late-night admission.
- Conrad FisherWithdrawn during the trip; at the motel admits he didn’t mean his earlier rejection of Belly.
- Jeremiah FisherManages logistics in the storm, suggests the motel, remains polite but distant after their kiss.
- Laurel ConklinOffers to pick Belly up after hearing about the storm; Belly declines.