"I've worried about that," Karla said, squeezing his hand in appreciation. The gesture meant a lot to her, mostly because she knew it was not Ender's first instinct, rather than because she particularly needed it. "I'm the first female he's ever been with--" someone hadn't told her about Denise yet, la "--the first one who ever showed real romantic interest. I don't know how to talk about that without making it sound like I doubt what he feels for me, but...I'm not that much of a starry-eyed romantic. I mean, half the reason I fell so hard for Ben my freshman year was because he was one of the first males I wasn't related to that cared about me. Not because I was a Queen or because males defend and protect, but because he cared about me. That's a heady concept."