"So you didn't have a choice," Veronica quietly prompts at length, trying to parse how difficult it must have been despite that and knowing she's falling woefully short. "Not really. It was either the others or him."

It's that tired old logic question writ large and messy: Train barreling down the track, save the baby or save an entire group of adults. Who can really make a decision like that in real life? There's no answer that doesn't leave an indelible mark.

Kill your boyfriend or let the whole school die.

It hadn't been a choice.