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She bit her nails down to the quick.

They looked like they hurt a helluva lot though she never winced.

“Get your fingers out of your mouth,” people would say.

I saw her roll her eyes

the way smokers do when told they’ll die.

She said the water stung when she dipped her hands into the sea.

“Like putting salt in a wound,” I muttered.

“Yes.” She said, “Exactly.”