Holding the colorful bracelet, Ellie remembers: its green beads had matched his eyes.

In the car, they’d laughed, hearts beating for tomorrow. Her wrist wrapped in sky.

“The next jewelry’ll be for your finger.”

Now, scraping red—paint? blood?—from the bracelet, Ellie regrets ever wanting more than him, then.

Kerry Graham lives, teaches, writes, runs, and photographs in Baltimore, MD. Connect with her on Instagram and Twitter.