Jenny Han - Its Not Summer Without You

its
not
summer
without
you

Also by Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty
Shug

a summer novel

its
not
summer
without
you

JENNY HAN

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2010 by Jenny Han

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or business@simonandschuster.com.

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Book design by Lucy Ruth Cummins

The text for this book is set in Bembo.

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Han, Jenny.

Its not summer without you : a summer novel / Jenny Han.1st ed.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-4169-9555-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)

eISBN 978-1-4424-1385-6

[1. Coming of ageFiction. 2. Interpersonal relationsFiction.

3. BeachesFiction. 4. SummerFiction. 5. Vacation homesFiction.

6. FriendshipFiction.] I. Title. II. Title: It is not summer without

you.

PZ7.H18944It 2010

[Fic]dc22

2009042180

J + S forever

acknowledgments

My heartfelt gratitude to Emily van Beek, Holly McGhee, and Elena Mechlin at Pippin Properties, and to Emily Meehan and Julia Maguire at S&S. Thanks also to my first readersCaroline, Lisa, Emmy, Julie, and Siobhan. I m so fortunate to know you all.

chapter one
july 2

It was a hot summer day in Cousins. I was lying by the pool with a magazine on my face. My mother was playing solitaire on the front porch, Susannah was inside puttering around the kitchen. Shed probably come out soon with a glass of sun tea and a book I should read. Something romantic.

Conrad and Jeremiah and Steven had been surfing all morning. Thered been a storm the night before. Conrad and Jeremiah came back to the house first. I heard them before I saw them. They walked up the steps, cracking up over how Steven had lost his shorts after a particularly ferocious wave. Conrad strode over to me, lifted the sweaty magazine from my face, and grinned. He said, You have words on your cheeks.

I squinted up at him. What do they say?

He squatted next to me and said, I cant tell. Let me see. And then he peered at my face in his serious Conrad way. He leaned in, and he kissed me, and his lips were cold and salty from the ocean.

Then Jeremiah said, You guys need to get a room, but I knew he was joking. He winked at me as he came from behind, lifted Conrad up, and launched him into the pool.

Jeremiah jumped in too, and he yelled, Come on, Belly!

So of course I jumped too. The water felt fine. Better than fine. Just like always, Cousins was the only place I wanted to be.

Hello? Did you hear anything I just said?

I opened my eyes. Taylor was snapping her fingers in my face. Sorry, I said. What were you saying?

I wasnt in Cousins. Conrad and I werent together, and Susannah was dead. Nothing would ever be the same again. It had been How many days had it been? How many days exactly? two months since Susannah had died and I still couldnt believe it. I couldnt let myself believe it. When a person you love dies, it doesnt feel real. Its like its happening to someone else. Its someone elses life. Ive never been good with the abstract. What does it mean when someone is really and truly gone?

Sometimes I closed my eyes and in my head, I said over and over again, It isnt true , it isnt true , this isnt real . This wasnt my life. But it was my life; it was my life now. After.

I was in Marcy Yoos backyard. The boys were messing around in the pool and us girls were lying on beach towels, all lined up in a row. I was friends with Marcy, but the rest, Katie and Evelyn and those girls, they were more Taylors friends.

It was eighty-seven degrees already, and it was just after noon. It was going to be a hot one. I was on my stomach, and I could feel sweat pooling in the small of my back. I was starting to feel sun-sick. It was only the second day of July, and already, I was counting the days until summer was over.

I said , what are you going to wear to Justins party? Taylor repeated. Shed lined our towels up close, so it was like we were on one big towel.

I dont know, I said, turning my head so we were face-to-face.

She had tiny sweat beads on her nose. Taylor always sweated first on her nose. She said, Im going to wear that new sundress I bought with my mom at the outlet mall.

I closed my eyes again. I was wearing sunglasses, so she couldnt tell if my eyes were open or not anyway. Which one?

You know, the one with the little polka dots that ties around the neck. I showed it to you, like, two days ago. Taylor let out an impatient little sigh.

Oh, yeah, I said, but I still didnt remember and I knew Taylor could tell.

I started to say something else, something nice about the dress, but suddenly I felt ice-cold aluminum sticking to the back of my neck. I shrieked and there was Cory Wheeler, crouched down next to me with a dripping Coke can in his hand, laughing his head off.

I sat up and glared at him, wiping off my neck. I was so sick of today. I just wanted to go home. What the crap , Cory!

He was still laughing, which made me madder.

I said, God, youre so immature.

But you looked really hot, he protested. I was trying to cool you off.

I didnt answer him, I just kept my hand on the back of my neck. My jaw felt really tight, and I could feel all the other girls staring at me. And then Corys smile sort of slipped away and he said, Sorry. You want this Coke?

I shook my head, and he shrugged and retreated back over to the pool. I looked over and saw Katie and Evelyn making whats-her-problem faces, and I felt embarrassed. Being mean to Cory was like being mean to a German shepherd puppy. There was just no sense in it. Too late, I tried to catch Corys eye, but he didnt look back at me.

In a low voice Taylor said, It was just a joke, Belly.

I lay back down on my towel, this time faceup. I took a deep breath and let it out, slowly. The music from Marcys iPod deck was giving me a headache. It was too loud. And I actually was thirsty. I should have taken that Coke from Cory.

Taylor leaned over and pushed up my sunglasses so she could see my eyes. She peered at me. Are you mad?