The Summer I Turned Pretty, #3
We'll Always Have Summer
by Jenny Han
Contents
Chapter Ten
Overview
Belly recalls her rift with Taylor the summer before senior year and how pride stalled their usual quick reconciliation. A chance encounter while back-to-school shopping prompts Belly to reach out, and they cautiously make up. The chapter closes by confirming they later attend the same college, remaining close but less codependent.
Summary
After a fight the summer before senior year, Belly expects her and Taylor to reconcile quickly as they always had. She waits for Taylor’s usual signal to make up, but it never comes. Weeks pass, and Belly oscillates between pride and fear that they are growing apart. Jeremiah urges Belly to call Taylor, but Belly hesitates, rationalizing that independence might be necessary as they approach adulthood.
As the summer ends, Belly and her mother run into Taylor and Mrs. Jewel while shopping for school clothes. Their mothers reminisce warmly, while Belly and Taylor exchange guarded small talk. Recognizing the moment could slip away, Belly stops Taylor and invites her over that night, asking for fashion advice as an olive branch.
Taylor comes over, helps style Belly’s new skirt, and they ease into a tentative truce. Belly acknowledges that things have changed; they are learning to stay in each other’s lives without being everything to each other.
In retrospect, Belly notes the irony that they later end up at the same college. There, they maintain their friendship with new boundaries—Taylor involved with her sorority, Belly with her dorm friends—proving they can remain close while less dependent.
Who Appears
- Belly (Isabel Conklin)Narrator; struggles with pride and fear after a fight with Taylor, initiates reconciliation.
- Taylor JewelBest friend; keeps her distance after the fight, then accepts Belly’s olive branch and reconnects.
- Jeremiah FisherBelly’s boyfriend; advises her to just call Taylor, largely outside the conflict.
- LaurelBelly’s mother; encounters Mrs. Jewel while shopping and reminisces about the girls’ closeness.
- Mrs. JewelTaylor’s mother; meets Laurel at the store, highlighting the families’ long-shared history.