63 pages 2 hours read

It's Not Summer Without You

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2010

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Chapters 11-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 11 Summary

Jeremiah and Belly ride in silence until Jeremiah says that the song playing on the radio was his prom’s theme song. Belly asks how many proms Jeremiah has been to, and he says five. Belly says she does not believe him but inside knows that Jeremiah is exactly the kind of guy a girl would want to bring to prom: “He would know how to make a girl feel like the prom queen even if she was nobody” (71). Jeremiah tells Belly that she looked good at her prom and that he liked the dress she wore. Belly wonders if Conrad told Jeremiah anything about that night, and Jeremiah explains that Susannah had one of their prom photos framed. Belly realizes how different prom would have been if she had brought Jeremiah instead of Conrad.

Chapter 12 Summary

The narrative switches to the weeks before prom. Belly asks Conrad to be her date, knowing that it will be difficult to convince him. Predictably, Conrad at first says no. Belly feels rejected, recognizing that “he couldn’t do this one thing for [her], to make [her] happy. He didn’t feel like it” (74). She says she will go with Cory instead, pretending that he has asked her. They hang up and Belly cries.

Conrad calls Belly back soon after; when she does not pick up the phone, he leaves a message saying he will take her to prom. Belly knows his intentions are ambiguous, thinking, “He didn’t want me to go with some other guy, but he didn’t want to go with me either” (75). The night of prom, Conrad forgets Belly’s corsage back at his dorm and apologizes; Belly pretends not to care, but she secretly feels embarrassed. Laurel is talking to Susannah on the phone, and before they leave Conrad speaks with his mother, promising her something that Belly cannot hear.

Belly can sense that something is wrong with Conrad, but he does not share it with her. She can’t help but feel that she had to “beg him to go to the prom with [her]” (77). At the dance, Conrad struggles to make conversation with Taylor and her boyfriend. Taylor takes Belly to the bathroom and asks what is up with Conrad, but Belly doesn’t have an answer, and Taylor is distracted by her plan to spend the night alone with her boyfriend. When they return to the table, Belly tries to convince Conrad to dance with her, and he relents when a slow song comes on.

As they dance, Belly observes that Conrad is acting distant. When they get back to their seats, Conrad asks if he and Belly can go somewhere to be alone and talk. She immediately knows that he plans to break up with her, so she stalls. When they do leave, Conrad says that he is going to go back to school to finish preparing for exams. Belly asks if she has done something wrong, and even though Conrad says no, Belly says that she knows their relationship is over. Conrad tells her not to “leave it like this” (84), but Belly walks away, and Conrad does not follow her.

The next morning, Steven tells Belly that Conrad is not worth the heartbreak she is feeling. She talks to Laurel, who says she was afraid that something might go wrong between Belly and Conrad, adding, “[I]t’s more complicated than just you and Conrad. There are more people involved than just the two of you” (85). This angers Belly, though she knows her mother is right and worries about disappointing Susannah with the news of their breakup. Belly tries to convince herself that she always knew Conrad would end things with her, but that if Conrad ever tries to come back to her, she will forgive him. Conrad does not call her, and Belly does not reach out to him until she learns that Susannah’s illness has taken a serious turn. He does not pick up, and Belly does not leave a message.

Chapter 13 Summary: “Jeremiah”

The narrative switches to the weeks before prom from Jeremiah’s perspective. Susannah is thrilled that Conrad is taking Belly to prom and makes him promise that he will “make it a night she’ll always remember” (87). When Jeremiah gets home the afternoon after prom, he is surprised to see Conrad’s car in the driveway, knowing that he planned to stay with the Conklins after the dance.

That night at dinner, Susannah tries to get Conrad to tell her about prom, but he gives her only vague answers. Jeremiah can tell that Conrad is lying in most of his responses and feels angry: “He’d gotten to take Belly to her prom and he acted like it was some big chore. If it had been me, I would have done it right” (89). When Susannah goes to bed, Jeremiah tells Conrad he hopes he didn’t ruin prom for Belly.

Chapter 14 Summary

Back in the present day, at Brown, Conrad’s roommate, Eric, says he doesn’t know where Conrad went and continually checks Belly out, making her uncomfortable. When Eric leaves, Jeremiah and Belly take in Conrad’s room; Belly notices that it has barely any decoration.

A girl shows up looking for her sweater, and Belly worries that this may be someone Conrad is dating. She says Conrad mentioned something about going to the beach to surf, which leads Belly and Jeremiah to believe Conrad has gone to Cousins Beach.

Jeremiah calls his dad to update him on the search. Left alone, Belly looks through Conrad’s things and finds a blue jewelry box that contains an infinity-symbol necklace. Belly instinctively knows that the necklace was meant for her and sees it as “[p]roof that he really [does] care” (97). The necklace is a reference to the hours Conrad spent on the phone with Belly tutoring her in trigonometry during the school year. Belly views these phone calls as the beginning of their relationship and an indication that Conrad cares about her.

Jeremiah returns and announces they will drive to Cousins to pick up Conrad. Suddenly nervous at the prospect of seeing Conrad, Belly tells Jeremiah that he should drop her off on the way. Jeremiah says he can’t deal with this by himself, adding, “I know he still cares what you think of him” (99). Belly agrees to go even though she worries about having to confront Conrad after the awful things she said to him at Susannah’s funeral. When Jeremiah leaves the room, Belly puts the necklace on, hiding it under her neckline.

Chapter 15 Summary

Before they leave, Belly grabs Conrad’s books and backpack so that he can study for his exams, and Jeremiah cheerfully lets the dorm’s RA know they’ve located Conrad. Belly reflects that Jeremiah makes friends everywhere he goes. As they begin driving toward Cousins, Belly thinks about the last time she made this drive months earlier—only that time it was with Conrad.

Chapter 16 Summary

The narrative switches back to December, when Belly and Conrad spent a night together at Cousins. Belly waits until her mother is asleep and then leaves the house to meet Conrad at the end of the street. She gets into his car, and he asks if she still plans to go to Cousins with him. Belly thinks, “I couldn’t believe he even had to ask. I would go anywhere” (105). Belly feels that everything in their relationship has been leading up to this moment.

As they drive to Cousins, Conrad tells Belly that he wants to become a doctor and work with patients because of his mother. He explains that new advancements in medicine are helping her to get better, and Belly believes this, excited to hear that Susannah might be healed.

At the house, Conrad builds a fire. When he sits on the opposite end of the couch, Belly asks why he is sitting so far away from her. Conrad moves closer, and they begin to kiss. Belly thinks she could kiss Conrad like this forever, and their intimacy does not progress beyond this stage. Conrad eventually falls asleep, and Belly whispers to his resting head, “Conrad. There’s only you. For me, there’s only ever been you” (108).

Belly wakes to two missed calls from her mother, who is angry with her for leaving in the middle of the night. Laurel calms down somewhat when she learns that Belly is with Conrad at Cousins, and asks how Conrad is doing, which Belly finds odd considering how angry her mother is. Laurel tells Belly to be home that night and that she is grounded once she gets home.

Because the beach is cold, they spend most of the day inside by the fire with hot cocoa. When it’s time to leave, Conrad reaches for Belly and begins kissing her again with more urgency. When Belly puts her hands underneath his shirt, Conrad pulls back, telling her that he does not want to rush anything physical with her because he knows it is her first time. Belly kisses him on the cheek and tells him that he is sweet to her, to which Conrad says, “I just—want to always know that you’re okay. It’s important to me” (114). Conrad pulls her up from the couch, and they leave.

Belly gets home around midnight, after stopping for dinner along the way. Laurel is angry with her, but Belly does not regret her decision to go to Cousins with Conrad, thinking that she cannot possibly regret one of the best nights of her life.

Chapters 11-16 Analysis

The events leading up to and after prom loom large in this section of chapters, as both Jeremiah and Belly recall Conrad and Belly’s breakup at prom. Through these recollections, the reader gains further insight into Jeremiah’s growing feelings for Belly, as Jeremiah recalls how Conrad treated Belly after prom: “He’d gotten to take Belly to prom and he acted like it was some big chore. If it had been me, I would have done it right” (89). Here, Jeremiah implies that Conrad does not really understand the meaning of love, taking Belly for granted. Jeremiah sees himself as a fitting alternative to Conrad, someone who would know how to treat Belly right, were she to give him the chance.

For her part, Belly’s own recollections of prom show that she still doesn’t accept Conrad’s inability to express his true feelings or treat her with love. As she walks through her memories of prom, small negative moments stick out to her, such as when Conrad forgets her corsage or when they are dancing close together yet she feels “he had never felt so far away” (82). Despite his actions at prom, Belly knows that “if he’d made even the tiniest gesture, I’d have taken him back, gladly” (86), showing that she is still willing to accept any kind of affection from Conrad without considering how his actions affect her.

The power of nostalgia continues to influence her actions, especially when she discovers the infinity-symbol necklace in Conrad’s dorm room desk. From the moment she sees it, she understands it as a symbol of Conrad’s unexpressed love for her. She feels certain that “it belong[s] to [her]” (100), putting the necklace on as she remembers the countless nights she spent with Conrad on the phone as he tutored her in trigonometry. The necklace is a powerful symbol of Belly’s nostalgic love for Conrad, her continued willingness to look for any clues that indicate his true feelings in the absence of any confirmation from Conrad himself.

This section also charts Belly’s coming of age as she explores her sexuality and grapples with the rate at which her peers are leaving her behind. While she and Conrad experience physical intimacy and passion during their clandestine night at the beach house, they stop short of moving beyond kissing, and the next day they indulge in the childish beverage of hot cocoa. This contrasts with Taylor and her boyfriend drinking out of a flask the night of prom and with Taylor’s plans to spend the night alone with her boyfriend, implying an intimacy far beyond what Belly has experienced. While Belly feels comfortable going at her own pace, the growing disconnect between her and Taylor’s experiences foreshadows their rift later in the novel.

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