Lara Jean Covey was having what she thought was going to be the most magical moment of her life. She and Peter Kavinsky had planned this day for weeks. It was her dream proposal—intimate, romantic, and just quirky enough to feel like it was straight out of a rom-com. Peter, with his usual charm, had set up a picnic at the local park under a massive oak tree, complete with fairy lights, a blanket covered in all her favorite snacks, and a playlist of soft love songs.

Everything was perfect.

Until it wasn't.

"Lara Jean Covey," Peter began, getting down on one knee with the kind of movie-star smirk that made everyone in school swoon. He held a small velvet box in his hand, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "You are the love of my life. You've changed me in ways I didn't even know I needed. I can't imagine—"

Splatter.

A glob of thick, red liquid arced through the air, landing squarely on Peter's pristine white shirt. Another splash hit Lara Jean's favorite yellow sundress, leaving a grotesque stain.

"What the—" Peter started, looking down at his shirt in horror.

Lara Jean turned toward the source of the splatter and saw a group of kids huddled around a table covered in poster boards, glitter, and, most damningly, a papier-mâché volcano. One kid in particular—a fourth-grader with a gap-toothed grin and an oversized pair of goggles—was holding a bottle of baking soda with a look of pure glee.

"Sorry!" the kid yelled, clearly not sorry at all. "It's an EXPLOSIONNNNN!"

Another eruption of red lava spewed from the volcano, this time splattering the picnic blanket and what was left of Lara Jean's meticulously crafted snacks.

Peter wiped his shirt, looking more amused than upset. "It's just soda and food coloring, LJ. No big deal."

But Lara Jean was not amused. Not even a little.

She stomped over to the kids, her sundress billowing behind her like a cape. "Excuse me," she said, her tone dripping with barely-contained frustration. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?"

The goggled fourth-grader looked up at her, clearly confused. "Uh... science?"

"Science?" Lara Jean repeated, her voice rising. "You just ruined what was supposed to be the most important moment of my life!"

Another kid piped up, pointing at the volcano. "It's not our fault. The project said 'add more baking soda for dramatic effect.'"

"Dramatic effect?" Lara Jean's eyes narrowed. "This isn't the science fair! This is a public park! Did you even think about how your 'dramatic effect' might affect other people?"

Peter jogged over, trying to diffuse the situation. "LJ, it's fine. They're just kids."

"Kids who clearly don't understand boundaries!" Lara Jean shot back, gesturing to the ruined picnic. "Do you know how long it took me to make those cupcakes? Or how hard Peter worked to plan this?"

The goggled kid squinted up at her. "Are you mad about the lava or because he didn't get to finish proposing?"

Peter's jaw dropped. "Hey, kid, not cool."

But Lara Jean wasn't done. She crouched down to the kid's level, her voice dropping to a dramatic whisper. "Listen here, science boy. When you grow up and have someone you love, and they're trying to propose to you, maybe you'll understand why this is such a big deal."

The kid tilted his head. "What's a proposal?"

Lara Jean groaned, standing back up. "You're impossible."

By the time they packed up what little was left of the picnic, Lara Jean had gone from fuming to mildly mortified. "I wasn't that bad, was I?" she asked Peter as they walked to the car.

Peter hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, you kinda yelled at a fourth-grader. So... yeah, a little bad."

"I didn't yell," Lara Jean protested. "I... passionately explained my feelings."

"That kid is probably Googling 'what's a Karen' right now," Peter said, smirking.

Lara Jean groaned, sinking into the passenger seat. "This day couldn't get any worse."

She was wrong.

The next morning, her phone buzzed with a notification. She groggily opened Instagram and saw a tagged video. The caption read: "Local girl LOSES IT on kids over volcano mishap. Is this the new top Karen? #ParkProposalFail #KarenGoesBoom"

"Oh no," Lara Jean whispered, clicking on the video.

It was all there—her storming toward the kids, her rant about boundaries, her crouched-down interrogation of "science boy." The comments were brutal.

"She really said 'listen here, science boy.' I can't."

"That poor kid just wanted to make a volcano erupt, and she erupted instead."

"Proposal interrupted by lava—sounds like a rom-com, ends like a horror movie."

Before she could process the horror, her phone buzzed again. A text from her sister, Margot: "LJ, you're on The Viall Files. Congrats on being Karen #6."

"What?" Lara Jean exclaimed, opening her podcast app.

Sure enough, the latest episode of The Viall Files was titled: "Top 10 Karens of the Year: Lava Edition."

Nick Viall's voice filled the room. "Coming in at number six, we have Lara Jean Covey, who went full meltdown after a fourth-grader's science project interrupted her boyfriend's proposal. Now, I get it—love is emotional—but yelling at kids? That's a bold move."

His co-host laughed. "Did you see the part where she said, 'listen here, science boy'? Iconic."

"I have to admit," Nick said, "as much as she's a Karen in this moment, she's also kind of relatable. Like, who hasn't had their big moment ruined by something dumb?"

Lara Jean slammed her phone down. "Relatable? Relatable?"

Peter, walking in with a mug of coffee, raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

"They called me a Karen, Peter," Lara Jean said, flopping onto the couch. "I'm number six on some podcast's Karen list!"

Peter sipped his coffee. "Number six, huh? Could've been worse. You could've been number one."

"Not funny!" Lara Jean groaned, covering her face with a pillow.

Peter sat beside her, gently pulling the pillow away. "Hey, look on the bright side. At least now we'll have a great story to tell our future kids."

Lara Jean glared at him. "This is not a 'great story.' This is a nightmare."

"Come on," Peter said, grinning. "Science boy will forgive you. And if he doesn't, I'm pretty sure we can bribe him with cupcakes."

Lara Jean sighed, finally cracking a smile. "Fine. But next time, no volcanoes."

"Deal," Peter said, leaning in to kiss her. "Now, how about we finish what I started?"

And as Peter knelt down again, this time in the safety of their living room, Lara Jean couldn't help but laugh. Because as disastrous as it was, she knew this would be a story they'd never forget.