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Steven Conklin is Belly's older brother and the son of Laurel. Steven is a good life-long friend to Conrad and Jeremiah and (at important times) a supportive brother towards Belly. Though we see little of him in the present times in the novels, overall, his truthfulness is a springboard for Belly to make difficult yet wise decisions.
Throughout Belly's flashbacks, he is always making fun of her in a brotherly fashion, often teasing or humiliating her. However, he is shown to also hold a protective side over his younger sister and hates it when he sees her get genuinely hurt.
The Summer I Turned Pretty
He is absent for most of the first novel, taking off to look at colleges with his father in The Summer I Turned Pretty. He teases Belly about her crush on Conrad before being shocked when their mother implies something to be going on between Belly and Jeremiah. He demands to know more, only to be rebuffed by Belly.
The only way we get most of his character is through his appearances in Belly's summer memories and flashbacks. In one of Belly's many flashbacks, he has a brief fling with her best friend Taylor. Belly catches the two kissing, making her mad. He regrets it, however, and the incident has never been brought up since.
It's Not Summer Without You
Steven, again, is not a regular character in the second novel. He does make appearances in Belly's flashbacks, such as comforting Belly when Conrad harshly breaks up with her. He makes a brief appearance and is shown to be hurt when learning Jeremiah called Belly to help Conrad during his emotional break down following Susannah's death instead of him. Jeremiah, who has chapters written through his viewpoint, states that despite Steve's regular teasing towards Belly, he does have a strong protective side over her.
We'll Always Have Summer
The only novel where he is a supporting character. He is with everyone when they honor Susannah's anniversary of her death, also taking photos with everyone when "the summer kids" meet up again.
At the dinner, he and Conrad are making happy conversation and catching up together. He asks Conrad if he has a girlfriend in California when questioning as to why he stayed away for so long, to which Conrad says no. When Jeremiah announces his and Belly's engagement. Steven is shocked at this and chokes on his water, later commenting to Conrad how crazy the news was. Later on, he expresses his wariness of Belly getting married so young and attempts to discourage her. He says if she is meant to be with Jeremiah, then marriage can wait and if not then she shouldn't be marrying him. He backs up his brotherly love for his sister by saying that while Jeremiah was like a brother to him, Belly "was [his] little sister and [she] came first".
When realizing the wedding was still happening, Steve is happy to hear Jeremiah wants him to be his best man. He decides to make the best of the situation by saying he might as well get the bachelor party planning going. During the dinner celebration of the wedding, he makes a toast and tells Jeremiah to "treat Belly right" as she is "the only sister [he's] got", making her happily tear up.
When Jeremiah is nowhere to be found before the wedding, Steven calls Conrad when trying to find him and says how worried Belly was getting. When Steven learns Conrad will get him to the wedding, he says he is going to beat up Jeremiah either way for worrying his sister. When Belly is contemplating her big decision regarding getting married to Jeremiah, Steve simply yet wisely tells her to "go big or go home". This is enough for Belly to make her choice.
Quotes
Trivia
- Belly gets annoyed with him easily due to his constant teasing and embarrassing her. However, underneath the teasing, he is noted to be truly protective of her when it counts. Jeremiah even states in It's Not Summer Without You that while Steven does tease Belly a lot, he is actually very protective over her. This is seen when he briefly yet genuinely comforts Belly over her rough break up with Conrad on her prom night. Another noted example is when he angrily vows to beat up Jeremiah for taking off on his wedding day to Belly and making her worry.
- He makes little actual physical appearances in the series, probably being a real supporting character only in the final novel of the series. He makes most of his appearances through flashbacks that Belly recalls back to previous summers growing up together.