Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family, Responsibility, and Growing Up
Love and Fear
Social Structure, Reputation, and High School
Lies vs. Honesty
Summary
Analysis
The next afternoon, as Lara Jean helps Peter study for chemistry in the library, she asks if he thinks couples who have been together a long time have had sex. Peter insists he needs more information, such as age and how long they’ve been together. After Lara Jean answers, he says it’s likely they have had sex and asks why Lara Jean is asking. Lara Jean says Chris believes this pretend couple has had sex, but Peter deems Chris a “train wreck.” He watched her do a drunk striptease on a friend’s roof freshman year. Then he asks why Lara Jean and Chris are friends, since they don’t have anything in common.
It’s likely that Lara Jean is referring to Margot and Josh here when she asks Peter’s opinion whether this couple has had sex. The fact that Lara Jean is asking in the first place hints that she might not totally trust Margot—after all, why else would she wonder if Margot has had sex, given their pact? Peter also clearly judges people, just like Lara Jean does, when he says that Chris is a “train wreck.” To him, it’s inconceivable that Chris might also be a good friend to Lara Jean.
Themes
In response, Lara Jean snippily asks what she and Peter talk about; it’s not like they have much in common, either. Peter puts his head in her lap, and Lara Jean says he’s in an obnoxious mood today. When he asks for a bedtime story, Lara Jean scolds him to not flirt. Peter sits back up to check his phone, and Lara Jean wishes she hadn’t said anything.
Lara Jean is trying to be contrary here, but she also makes an important point: just because two people are very different doesn’t mean they can’t find anything to talk about. She and Peter (and she and Chris, for that matter) come up with all sorts of things to talk about, even if they’re very different.
Themes
