“Look, we girls get the raw end of the stick on pretty much everything. Men make more money than us. Men are stronger than us, physically; you know, with muscles and shit. They always dump women when they get older, while they get more distinguished and celebrated when they age, which is total bullshit, you know? Like men have always had all the rights and the power forever, where we girls have had to fucking take the scraps. But my mom, and she’s smart about men, dumb as rocks about money and parenting, but she knows dudes … well, she said the only arena where we women have a leg up on men is in love. ’Cause the only thing that can bring down a big strong man from his high-horse ego is when he loves a woman, like truly loves-her-loves-her. It’s the only time we girls get to win big. So that’s why it’s better if the guy loves the girl more, because if she loves him more, it never works out good for her. I know I sound crazy, my mom explains it better.”

“No, I get it,” Anna said softly. “Women have suffered throughout history forever at the hands of men. Why should we suffer in the romance, too? I mean, if we don’t have to.”

“Exactly! You said it, sister.” She stared at Anna, a flicker of recognition passing over her face, but Anna didn’t flinch. Her picture hadn’t been in the papers, because she was a minor and her father had made sure it didn’t happen. “So what’s your dealio? Why are you here on track twenty-seven in the middle of the night?”

“Same as you,” Anna said. “I heard about the story and found it sad. I wanted to come here and … I don’t know … see where it happened. Try to understand it.”

“It’s simple. This boy loved his girl so much he saved her life, literally pulled her ass out of the tracks, then he saved a homeless dude’s dog, but then didn’t make it out in time. He’s a goddamn romantic hero.”

“Yeah, but what about the girl?” Anna asked. “How is she going to live on when a boy loved her that much? He’s dead, and her life is ruined forever.”