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If Rose’s life was an artwork, then she and Hart were in high relief, everything and everyone else fading into the flat background. It was only when school started that the rest of the world crystallized in jarring, harsh detail. Rose gripped the map of the Meadow Falls High School campus so tightly that the paper was both damp and wrinkled. But no matter how long she studied it, she couldn’t focus, not with all the whispered comments and passing glances she caught. Day one at school and she already held two distinctions: new girl in town, and the girl who’d managed to snag Hart Hargrove before school even started.

So, when Rose thought she spotted Lowell in the locker bay that morning, she was flooded with instant relief. She wasn’t sure it was him at first, as the top half of his body was leaning deep into his locker, already a mess of loose-leaf paper and textbooks. But Rose mostly wasn’t sure if it was Lowell because there were no crutches or cast in sight.

“Hey!” Rose said, walking up to him. “You got your cast off!”

“Two days ago,” came his muffled voice.

It was hard to tell, but Rose thought she detected an iciness to his tone. Had he told her that he’d be getting his cast taken off? She couldn’t remember. Admittedly, she and Lowell had been spending less time together, and she had only herself to blame. “Oh,” she said. “I’m sorry, I—”

“My leg’s better than ever,” Lowell said. “Might try out for the football team.”

Rose let out a relieved breath. Their inside joke about Lowell becoming a jock was a sure sign that he wasn’t mad at her.

“You’re too small, dude,” came Rose’s automatic answer. But the remark died on her lips as Lowell shut his locker door and straightened. For the first time ever, she had to look up to face him. In front of her stood telltale proof that she’d been spending way too much time with Hart this summer, because while she wasn’t looking, Lowell had grown like a weed. The one thing that had always distinguished him among his peers was that he looked like a child next to them, but now, suddenly, Lowell was tall. Lanky. At least a foot taller than Rose.

“Lowell,” she breathed.

“I know,” he said.

“But—”

“It’s called a glow-up, Rose. A growth spurt. The Summer I Turned Pretty , if you will, except replace ‘Pretty’ with ‘Tall.’”

Rose nodded slowly, though shock still slowed her synapses. But she rationalized it, telling herself it was only because she’d barely seen Lowell over the last few weeks of the summer. Lowell had obviously been growing this whole time, and she never would’ve realized it anyway because of how he was always hunched over his crutches. But even now, as they walked in stride down the hall, Rose noticed it wasn’t just the height that made him taller. His new confidence played a part, too.

“When did this happen?” she asked.

Lowell hooked his thumbs into the straps of his backpack. “Probably during all the time you’ve been attached to Hart’s hip.”

Ouch. She was not the kind of girl who dropped everything for a guy. Or, at least, she never thought she was. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Me and Hart… it’s new. You know how it is.”

“Not really,” Lowell said. “Hey, Michelle!”

The Michelle in question turned at the sound of her name, and though she didn’t reciprocate Lowell’s greeting, she also didn’t gag or roll her eyes or pretend he didn’t exist, which, Lowell had once told Rose, was the way most girls usually responded to him. Lowell looked down at Rose, big open-mouthed grin on his face. “Did you see that? I think she smiled at me.”

The first bell rang, jolting Rose and making her pulse quicken. She remembered the paper map in her hands. She was lost in this school, and she’d be lost without her friend. “Lowell, we’re cool, right?”

Lowell still seemed distracted by the girl who’d maybe smiled at him, but when he finally glanced at Rose, it was with a magnanimous smile. “Of course we’re cool.”

He walked away and Rose watched him, determined to make that true.