The Summer I Turned Pretty

Maybe I would get married, maybe I would have a family, but it wouldn’t matter, because a piece of my heart, the piece where summer lived, would always be Conrad’s.

He was the first boy to tell me I was beautiful.

I loved Conrad and I probably always would.

I cupped the back of his head, moved it toward me, and kissed him.

you kept saying, ‘We’re almost there,’ and I believed it. I believed it because you were the one who was saying it, and I believed everything you ever said. Compared to you, everyone else is saltines, even Cam. And I hate saltines. You know that. You know everything about me, even this, which is that I really love you.”

“You’re the only boy I’ve ever thought about. My whole life, it’s always been you. You taught me how to dance, you came out and got me the time I swam out too far.

“I’ve loved you since I was ten years old.”

I will love this boy forever.

“You’re cooler than any other girl I’ve ever met, and you’re there for me. You’ve always been there for me. I … I can count on you. And you can count on me too.

But now it’s more. I see you as more than that.”