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Summary
Chapter Twenty-Two
The day after the bonfire on the beach, Belly sunbathes on the deck of the summer house, hoping that Cam will call, but Mr. Fisher calls instead. Belly asks if he plans to visit for the weekend and he says no. After the call, Belly falls asleep in a lounge chair and is woken by Jeremiah who suggests they go for a drive, and they head to a go-kart track. When one of the workers at the track flirts with Belly, Jeremiah grumbles in response. Belly, however, blushes and enjoys the attention. Later, when she returns to the summer house, she learns that Cam called while she was out. Laurel asks who he is, but Belly dodges the question. Instead, she inquires after Susannah who is upstairs taking a nap. Belly asks if Susannah is okay. When Laurel replies that she simply has a summer cold, Belly can tell that her mother is lying. She has noticed that Susannah has been spending a lot of time in her bedroom and that she seems sad lately.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cam and Belly begin to talk regularly. She invites him over to the summer house one afternoon while everyone else is out. She tells him that she plans to keep the hoodie that he lent her the night of the bonfire party. He tells her she can have the hoodie if she beats him in a swimming race. They race three times in the pool at the house. Cam wins the second round and Belly wins the first and third. However, she wonders if he let her win, which would be unusual because the other boys never let her win anything.
Cam invites Belly to a house party being held by a teenager named Kinsey, and she agrees. The next morning at breakfast, Belly mentions the plan to the others. Conrad tries to forbid her from going to the party. When Belly stands up for herself and declares that she will be going, Conrad and Jeremiah decide to attend the party, too.
That night, Cam takes Belly to Kinsey’s party and he seems to know everyone who’s there. He introduces Belly as Flavia, the name she adopted during the Latin convention they attended in eighth grade. She later sees Conrad and Jeremiah at the house party. The older Fisher brother is with Nicole, the girl in the Red Sox cap from the bonfire on the beach. Belly makes note of how closely Conrad and Nicole are sitting together. Jeremiah dedicates a karaoke song, “Summer Lovin’” to Cam and Belly and jokingly calls him “Cam Cameron.” Belly feels embarrassed both for herself and for Cam even though Cam laughs along.
Afterward, they overhear raised voices coming from outside so Belly and Cam step out onto the deck to investigate. They find Conrad arguing with a man in his mid-20s who has a barbed-wire tattoo. Conrad is drunk and belligerent, and it seems like the argument might shift into a physical altercation. When Jeremiah refuses to step in, Belly bravely places herself between Conrad and the man with the tattoo. Then Jeremiah whispers something to Conrad, possibly about Belly, and convinces his brother to back away from the disagreement. Belly says goodbye to Cam, then prepares to leave the party with the Fisher brothers. Left alone for a moment in Jeremiah’s car, Conrad and Belly share an awkward silence, and he reaches out to stroke her hair.
Analysis
The introduction of Cam helps both Belly and the Fisher brothers become more aware of their true feelings. After Belly announces that she’s going to a party with Cam, both boys insist on going too even though they had not planned on attending until they learned that Cam had asked Belly to go. That evening, Conrad chastises Belly for wearing perfume and makeup, showing his jealousy. She is dressed and adorned like a typical teenage girl. In fact, Belly remembers that Conrad appreciated Nicole, the girl in the Red Sox cap, wearing perfume. Conrad envies Belly wanting to look and smell attractive for Cam. Still, she decides to appease him by rubbing off some of the blush and perfume, showing that she cares for his feelings. Later that evening, Conrad gently strokes Belly’s hair in an abrupt shift from his earlier belligerent behavior. Jeremiah’s behavior also hints at jealousy. At the house party, Jeremiah mocks Cam’s name and puts Cam and Belly on the spot as he sings karaoke. As Belly grows close to Cam, both Conrad and Jeremiah begin to act on their attraction to Belly more frequently and outwardly, and as a result, Belly becomes more aware of their interest in her and vice versa.
Cam serves as a contrast to both Conrad and Jeremiah, a symbol of all the guys who could possibly win Belly’s heart if the Fisher boys don’t act on how they feel. Unlike Conrad, Cam creates no tension. With Conrad, Belly feels she must work to get a smile from him. With Cam, the two frequently laugh together. While the brothers hide their feelings for Belly for years, Cam is honest and direct about his. At the house party, Conrad becomes belligerent and gets into an argument with an older stranger. On the other hand, when Jeremiah makes fun of Cam, he laughs and chooses to walk away instead of becoming hostile. Compared to Jeremiah, Cam is relaxed and easygoing. Jeremiah enjoys being the center of attention, such as when he sings karaoke at the house party. However, Cam does not call attention to himself and instead prefers to stay off to the side talking to Belly. As a foil character, Cam’s presence helps to highlight key characteristics of the two Fisher brothers.
Although Conrad has always been withdrawn, his recent moodiness suggests he is dealing with a particularly difficult concern that Belly does not know about. Other characters also are unaware of what has been troubling Conrad, but they’ve noticed the differences. Belly even notes that in the argument at the house party, Conrad seems very different from his usual self. Conrad is drunk, wild, and so intense that he frightens her, but she knows him well enough to know the behavior is atypical. Whether the rage is a release of tension or to mask what he is truly feeling doesn’t matter as much as her realization that Conrad’s troubling behavior is escalating and must be confronted. Belly is unsure why Conrad’s behavior has changed so drastically, but she does acknowledge that he is struggling more than she realized.
