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“It was a summer I would never, ever forget. It was the summer everything began. It was the summer I turned pretty. Because for the first time, I felt it. Pretty, I mean.”
In Chapter Four, Belly defines what happened during the summer that made her become “pretty.” Although the obvious answer would be that Belly’s appearance changed, the real shift occurred in how Belly viewed herself. Growing up, Belly never felt particularly attractive because she had chubby cheeks, thick glasses, and a smattering of freckles that made her self-conscious. However, this summer, wearing contact lenses and with a lithe swimmer’s body, she feels pretty for the first time, and the people around her notice the changes and treat her differently. As a result, the summer that Belly turns sixteen becomes significant not only because she embarks on romantic relationships, but also because for the first time in her life, she feels pretty.
“Growing up with Steven and spending my summers with Jeremiah and Conrad, winning was always important, and doubly so because I was a girl and was never expected to win anything. Victory is a thousand times sweeter when you’re the underdog.”
In Chapter Twenty-Three, Belly explains how her gender plays a role in her competitive nature. She warns Cam that if they race, she will beat him, prompting him to call her competitive. She realizes that winning matters so much to her because it has become a way to show that she belongs and is equal to the Fisher brothers and her own brother. Their preconception that she could never beat them motivates her to work harder to do it. Belly has always felt overlooked and underappreciated by the three boys because she’s a girl, so she overcompensates when trying to prove her worth.
