How to Sneak Onto Trains and Dodge Trucks While Untangling a Love Triangle

I chased my ex-boyfriend across Europe, my best girlfriend chased me, and we all fell frantically in and out of love.

Illustrations by Devyn Park

Gripping the handle, I swung my arched body out of the speeding train and into the night.

I’d gotten up from the mound of luggage after two-thirds of a bottle of wine and unlatched the door.

“Wait, don’t. What are you doing?” Alicia needed to shout because the wind from outside drowned our voices. But her eyes shone.

“Getting air,” I answered. I grabbed the metal handle and kept my toes planted on the second step so that only my upper body was hanging out of the train.

I began scream-singing “she loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah” over and over against the wall of wind. Soon, Alicia was behind me, singing too. We hooked arms. Euphoric to be each other’s best friend, we screeched louder, knowing we couldn’t be heard over the wind, but trying anyway.

It was exhilarating. We weren’t planning to stop our “she loves you” chant, but then, a big arm reached around my waste and pulled me back inside. I saw another arm around Alicia’s middle, with the telltale blue button-down …