The story on a Friday night high school party hosted by Gabe Rivera. Narrated in first person point of view by Lara Jean Covey, her boyfriend Peter Kavinsky is on the lacrosse team, and he scored the winning shot at the game earlier that day. He is playing poker with teammates while Lara Jean talks to her friends Lucas and Pammy. They debate whether Pammy should get bangs; while talking, Lara Jean and Peter exchange looks, and then texts. Peter wants to leave the party. Once they are outside, he confesses it’s too difficult for him to concentrate on his game while Lara Jean is looking at him. He wants to take her home, but Lara Jean has time before her one-in-the-morning curfew, and she wants to stay out.

Peter takes Lara Jean to the University of Virginia campus (also known as the Grounds), although she thinks this could be bad luck since he’s been accepted, and she’s still waiting to hear back. After being recruited for the lacrosse team, he got in through early action already. Lara Jean’s advisor recommended she wait for regular enrollment, and so she has applied to three other schools in Virginia, plus one in North Carolina.