58 pages • 1-hour read
Always and Forever, Lara Jean
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Chapters 21-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 21 Summary
Browsing the welcome packet late at night, Lara Jean learns William and Mary doesn’t allow freshmen to keep their cars on campus. John Ambrose texts her to tell her Stormy has died in her sleep, and the funeral will be in Rhode Island. Lara Jean is shocked. John tells her Stormy loved her. Lara Jean feels a sense of relief that she won’t be able to attend the funeral; the last one she went to was when her mother died. Lara Jean cries and thinks about her plans to write Stormy’s memoirs with her; when Peter calls, she is too sad to talk. In the morning, she calls Margot and they both cry. She suggests they have a memorial at Belleview for the residents. Lara Jean arranges it for Thursday, and it turns out Peter will be away at an open house at UVA with his mom. He offers to skip it, but she knows how important it is.
On Thursday, Lara Jean wears a bright dress she knows Stormy loved, but she saves her pink ring to wear at prom. She sets up a beautiful spread, with punch and champagne, but worries about seeing John Ambrose. In fact, there aren’t many familiar faces left at Belleview. Lara Jean is about to begin a speech when John Ambrose arrives. She tells a story about when Stormy went skinny dipping at age 18. Afterward, she and John talk, and John tells her Stormy would have appreciated her eulogy. He reveals he’s in a relationship now with a girl he met at Model UN. John is deciding between University of Maryland (UMD) and William and Mary; he’s sympathetic to Lara Jean’s situation when he hears she did not get into UVA. He and his girlfriend will be doing long distance, with Dipti out in Michigan. The two stay at the party longer than expected, feeling nostalgic for the USO party they threw last year.
Peter is sitting on her steps with a Starbucks cup. He looks like something is wrong, and when Lara Jean pushes him, he says his Dad showed up and wanted to come, but he didn’t let him. Lara Jean tells him to consider whether he would regret not letting him in if he lost him for good. Before she’ll change the subject, she makes him promise considering inviting him to graduation. Peter asks about Stormy’s memorial, but when he hears John might also be going to William and Mary, Lara Jean thinks he’s behaving strangely again. He dismisses John and Dipti’s relationship because they’ll be too far apart; Lara Jean figures people may feel the same about them. A complication is that neither of them will be allowed cars on campus. Peter offers to stay over that night, but he’s joking. They kiss.
Chapter 22 Summary
The morning of prom, Kitty comes into Lara Jean’s room to weigh in on nail polish colors and hairstyles. She comes to the salon with Lara Jean and weighs heavily for an updo, which Lara Jean ends up taking down as soon as they get home. Kitty and Trina want her to have a grand entrance, but Lara Jean is against it. Her birthday the next day will be similarly low key, going out for barbecue with her family and then back at the house, finishing with a cake that Trina and Kitty bake. When Peter arrives, Lara Jean still needs a few minutes to get ready. She knows it’s just Peter, but she feels nervous.
When she does come down, Peter is awed; she had kept the dress a surprise. He is in a well-fitting tuxedo. He has a corsage for Lara Jean and one for Kitty, who is also dressed up, and the group take a variety of photos. Then, when they arrive at the venue, they take professional photos. On the dance floor, they find their friends; Chris is there, and Lucas. Peter is crowned prom king, which makes Lara Jean feel proud. Then suddenly it’s the last dance, and Peter declares he knows what their song is just before Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” begins to play.
After prom, Peter asks to stop at the diner on the way to the post-prom party. He has set up their booth with balloons and a birthday cake, and all her friends pop out to surprise her. They re-enact the scene from Sixteen Candles that Lara Jean adores, sitting on the table to eat the cake together. Lara Jean wishes to always feel the adoration for Peter she feels that night.
Chapter 23 Summary
Memorial Day weekend brings the opening of the neighborhood pool. As children, Lara Jean’s mother would bring the three girls. Now, Kitty feels too old to participate in the swim team, and Lara Jean has brought her study materials to the pool. Instead of her mother, Lara Jean puts sunscreen on her younger sister. Peter convinces her to get in the pool, but she does not approve of kissing where younger kids are trying to play. They still get out when the whistle blows for adult swim, debating at what age you can stay in—eighteen or twenty-one. Lara Jean compliments Peter’s singing voice, and the two begin to talk about a cappella groups and college life. Lara Jean expects Peter to look at other girls, but he protests. They have exams at school this week, and then high school will be over. Lara Jean suggests coming to the pool the next weekend, but Peter already begins training for UVA lacrosse. He admits he’s excited to meet the full team, and he stays quiet when Lara Jean says they’ll have the whole summer together.
Chapter 24 Summary
While the end of the school year always feels a certain way, the feeling is amplified this year for Lara Jean. Everyone has low energy, counting down the days, “fast and slow at the same time” (324). Finals go well, and now Peter is gone, and Lara Jean misses him, hanging by the phone for his call. She comes downstairs in a nightgown to eat cling peaches and talk to Kitty about new Christmas decorations. They remember that Trina also has all her own Christmas décor that she brought with her. Kitty points out that a lot of what they have is grubby, including their tree skirt (which she doesn’t realize holds sentimental value for Lara Jean and Margot) that could be replaced by Trina’s fresher one.
Lara Jean is texting with her father about dinner when she receives an email from the University of North Carolina (UNC) to say she has been accepted off the waitlist. After telling Kitty, she talks it over with Chris, who convinces her to go on a spontaneous road trip to visit. They can make it there for dinner, and then come back; Lara Jean asks Kitty not to tell their father.
Halfway to Chapel Hill, she realizes her phone is dying, and she didn’t bring a charger. They’re using a lot of Chris’s battery on GPS; Lara Jean feels nervous. Chris is excited and reminds her to keep her options open. They park on the main road, and Lara Jean immediately notices how similar it is to UVA. They stop a student to ask where the best sushi is, and he passes the question to a friend, who tells them to go to Spicy Nine. Chris wants to follow the boys, but Lara Jean gets her to dinner. They wander around a while, then Chris convinces Lara Jean to see a band perform at a bar. In the line for the dance hall, they talk to several UNC women students who are very enthusiastic about the school. One, Hollis, gives Lara Jean her number so they can hang out again if she goes there.
Inside, they start dancing, and soon she is having a lot of fun. After a while, Chris gets hungry, so they walk to find a burrito at a small Mexican restaurant with a long line. Lara Jean worries about the time, but then agrees to walk to the Old Well. Lara Jean asks Chris for her opinion of Chapel Hill, and she says it's better than Charlottesville. They reach the fountain, and Chris is about to drink from it for luck when a few girls warn her that frat boys pee in there. Chris confesses she wishes she could stay and experience college with Lara Jean. She also helps Lara Jean see that she might be happier at UNC, and not want to transfer after one year to be with Peter at UVA. She thinks about Stormy, who said, “Never say no when you really want to say yes” (343).
Lara Jean doesn’t arrive home until 3 am, and her whole family is awake; her father is furious. She explains where they went and why, and the mood lightens slightly. When she reveals she might prefer to go to UNC, her family is overjoyed. Trina makes popcorn, and Lara Jean tells them all about her adventure until it’s nearly dawn.
Chapters 21-24 Analysis
The theme of these chapters focuses on loss—specifically, loss of a loved one, loss of quality time, and loss of inhibitions. In Chapter 21, Lara Jean deals with the loss of her friend and mentor, Stormy. She is asked to lead a memorial in her name, which her friend (and Stormy’s grandson) John Ambrose attends. She allows herself to cry and mourn the loss of her friend, and then she is able to deliver a beautiful eulogy for her. While John Ambrose is present, Peter must miss the memorial due to an important event at UVA. In the following chapters, Lara Jean also finds herself missing Peter while he’s off on events related to UVA lacrosse. Even before his departure, she pines for him, knowing he will be leaving for training camp even while they are together at the pool. These moments of loss and longing underscore Lara Jean’s worry about how difficult a long-distance relationship will be. Stormy’s death also functions as a way to bring John Ambrose, a former love interest, back into the picture. The novel asks the reader to consider whether Lara Jean will stay with the absent Peter or go after the present John Ambrose, creating tension.
Lara Jean also reaches two milestones in terms of her own journey of freedom toward becoming an adult. She goes to prom, where she does not lose her virginity despite Chris’s predictions, and instead ends the night at the diner celebrating her birthday with friends. Lara Jean, ever the planner, sticks to her strict roadmap of love and physical intimacy. She also experiences her first road trip when she and Chris drive to UNC without telling her father where they’re going. Chris is quite good at convincing Lara Jean to do things against her rule-oriented character and driving across state lines after finding out she’s gotten into UNC off the waitlist is certainly a big one. Despite scaring her father and Trina and putting Kitty in a bad position by entrusting her with the secret, the trip is ultimately a success, even by her family, as she discovers she feels far more excited to attend UNC than she did when planning to go to William and Mary. A rebellious night ends up in a path to self-discovery that even her nervous father can appreciate.
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