Peter Kavinsky and Genevieve

Peter Kavinsky and Genevieve are former partners who remain in contact after their breakup, making their relationship a persistent test of trust for Lara Jean Song Covey. The book presents their connection through brief encounters and other people’s interpretations rather than through a full account of their romance. That limited view matters: Peter’s friendship with Genevieve is something Lara Jean tries to accommodate, even as she fears that the history between them may still shape the present.

History and Continuing Contact

Lara Jean tells Haven that Genevieve and Peter have been broken up for a while. This establishes their former romance as settled in name, but not as irrelevant. Peter and Genevieve continue to speak and spend time together, and Lara Jean must reckon with a relationship whose boundaries are not always visible to her.

Genevieve also has a history with Lara Jean that predates her connection to Peter. The two girls were once friends, though Lara Jean says they are no longer close. Their shared past gives Genevieve’s presence a significance beyond that of an ex-girlfriend: she is connected both to Peter’s earlier romantic life and to Lara Jean’s own lost friendship. The evidence does not explain the end of that friendship here, but Lara Jean’s account makes clear that the former closeness has become a source of pain rather than reassurance.

Encounters and Public Tension

At a theater, Lara Jean and Peter encounter Genevieve and Emily as the two girls leave the ladies’ room. Lara Jean is already distressed by the memory of Genevieve telling people on the ski-trip bus that Peter and Lara Jean had been intimate in a hot tub. Seeing Genevieve in person brings that public exposure back into the moment, and Lara Jean feels alarmed about what to do.

Peter slows down, and his arm tightens around Lara Jean. She senses that he, too, is uncertain about whether they should greet Genevieve or continue on. Genevieve enters the theater without acknowledging them, and Peter guides Lara Jean inside. He chooses seats toward the back, while Genevieve and Emily sit in the middle. Lara Jean notices Genevieve’s blond head and gray coat, then deliberately looks away. The encounter ends without a conversation, but its silence does not resolve the strain: all three are in the same room, while Lara Jean and Peter avoid making contact with Genevieve.

The tension also appears in French class, where classmates speculate about a possible pregnancy and whether Peter would help pay for an abortion. Genevieve joins the exchange by suggesting that he might contribute only part of the cost, and the group laughs. Lara Jean is mortified, but suppresses her response rather than give the classmates the reaction they seem to want. The scene shows how the former couple’s continuing association can become material for public gossip, with Lara Jean bearing the embarrassment of claims and speculation about her relationship with Peter.

Friendship, Jealousy, and the Relationship Contract

As Lara Jean and Peter work on their relationship contract, she considers adding a rule about Genevieve. She thinks Peter should be allowed to remain friends with Genevieve if he is candid with Lara Jean about that friendship. She also considers stating more directly that he must not lie to her about Genevieve, then recognizes that this would repeat their broader promise to tell each other the truth.

Beneath those possible rules is a more demanding wish: Lara Jean wants Peter to choose her over Genevieve. She cannot bring herself to put that condition into the contract, because she knows it would expose her jealousy and insecurity. The contract therefore records both an effort at fairness and a limit to what Lara Jean feels able to ask. She can imagine a practical boundary around honesty, but not an explicit guarantee that she will always come first.

A later exchange further connects Peter’s contact with another woman to Lara Jean’s need to be believed. After missing a call from Peter, she calls him back and asks whether the woman he spoke to admitted something; she hopes he now believes her. The brief exchange does not identify the matter under discussion, so it cannot establish exactly what Peter learned. It does, however, show how communication with a woman in their shared circle can carry consequences for Lara Jean’s confidence in Peter and in her own account.

Valentine’s Day and the Unsettled Boundary

On Valentine’s Day, Lara Jean leaves a card in Peter’s locker and then finds him in the cafeteria with Genevieve. Peter has his hands on Genevieve’s shoulders and is speaking intently to her; Genevieve nods with her eyes lowered. Lara Jean cannot tell what has made Genevieve sad. She wonders whether Peter is simply supporting a friend or whether their interaction means something more, and she even questions whether Genevieve’s distress might be a way of keeping Peter close. The scene presents these as Lara Jean’s suspicions, not as established motives or proof of renewed romance.

Genevieve notices Lara Jean, says something to Peter, and leaves. Peter then approaches Lara Jean and greets her for the holiday, lifting her into a hug. His affectionate gesture offers a visible reassurance, but it does not answer Lara Jean’s questions about what passed between him and Genevieve. Across these scenes, the relationship’s central tension remains unresolved: Peter’s continued friendship with his ex can coexist with his relationship with Lara Jean, yet the history between the former partners makes that coexistence difficult for Lara Jean to experience as uncomplicated.