Chapter thirty - six

Belly reflects on how her birthday has always signaled summer’s end and recalls the unchanging rituals at Susannah’s house. This year is different only in Steven’s absence and the expectation of receiving his old car. Belly decides not to tell Cam about her birthday, wanting the day to remain strictly within her “summer family.”

She wakes to the smell of cake as Susannah, Laurel, Conrad, and Jeremiah sing. Belly makes a new wish, breaking from the same wish she’d made the past four years, hinting at shifting hopes.

Susannah presents a small box containing a strand of pearls, revealed to be the ones her father gave her for her own sixteenth birthday. With Laurel’s approval, Susannah fastens them on Belly, symbolically welcoming Belly into a new stage of life.

Asked for their gifts, Conrad admits he forgot, a first that stings Belly and highlights his withdrawal. Jeremiah follows with a small box holding a silver key charm, joking that Yolie helped him choose it, and Belly teases about Yolie’s crush on him.

The morning ends with Belly savoring the pearls and the mixed emotions of tradition kept, affection affirmed by Susannah and Jeremiah, and distance exposed by Conrad. Her choice to exclude Cam and to make a different wish underscores her evolving priorities and inner conflict.