The Summer I Turned Pretty

This chapter is another flashback chapter to the summer Belly was 12. Belly and Jeremiah stay behind from a fishing trip and watch movies together. Jeremiah breaks the silence: “He likes Con better than me, you know” (239). Confused, Belly asks what Jeremiah means, and he explains that their father favors Conrad and that Conrad tries to do everything to impress their father.

In this conversation, Jeremiah also tells Belly that he knows she has a crush on Conrad, which she denies. To get her to tell him the truth, Jeremiah invokes their “no secrets” (241) rule. Belly continues to deny it, but inside she admits that she does love Conrad and thinks about the moment she knew. She recalls the morning Conrad got up to make a Father’s Day breakfast even though Mr. Fisher had called to say he could not come down the night before. Conrad cooked for everyone, regardless. At that moment, Belly thought to herself: “I will love that boy forever” (241).

In the present, Belly prepares herself to confront Conrad, deciding that now is the time she has to be honest with him about her feelings before