(you can google it)
The snow that had fallen the day before had continued overnight, freezing the roads. Historia had been mildly disappointed when she'd seen the road outside her uncle's house frozen over, but she wasn't sure why. Maybe she'd been looking forward to school. That was a first.
"I'm not letting you drive that truck to school today," Uri said when Historia came downstairs.
"What?"
"I'll give you a lift. Until we can get some proper tires fitted for the ice, it's best you don't drive it."
Historia nodded, understanding. She'd never had to drive on icy roads before, but she didn't want to risk getting into an accident.
The car trip was quiet. Uri didn't listen to music in the car, and Historia didn't want to be rude and put headphones in.
"I heard there were some bear attacks in the woods nearby," Uri said.
"Bear attacks?"
"Well, that's what Kenny thinks it is. Hikers have been going missing on the trails, and if they're found then it's usually too late. Stay safe." Uri parked the car, a few metres away from the front of the school. "I didn't think you'd want any of your new friends to see you get dropped off like a kid."
"Oh, yeah," Historia laughed. "Thank you!" She said as she got out of the car, nearly slipping on the ice but catching herself in time. She waved at her uncle as he drove off, and walked into the school grounds.
Several people were standing out in the car park, chatting amongst themselves. The Fritzes stood by their shiny silver car in the closest non-disabled parking space to the school. Historia caught sight of Sasha, leaning against the door of her car and talking to Connie. She waved her over, and Historia was about to come when she heard a screech and a car horn - when she turned she saw a red van hurtling towards her, and a panicked driver trying to swerve.
What happened next was beyond Historia's ability to explain. She fell to the ground, hit by something that was not the van. When she looked up, she saw Ymir, a concerned look on her face and a large dent in the side of the van.
The strangest thing was that Ymir had, just a few seconds ago, been standing with her brothers and sister by their car, on the other side of the carpark.
"How did you-"
Ymir didn't stick around to listen to Historia. She was gone in a blink, and then Historia was swamped by the people who had witnessed the accident. Somebody got her to her feet - Marco, she thought, though she couldn't see him properly - and got everyone to clear some space until the ambulance arrived.
Still standing by their car, Historia could see Ymir's siblings looking on with looks that ranged from anger to concern, but no sign of Ymir.
--
Historia hadn't been in the hospital for long. The doctor had looked at her eyes and decided that she didn't have any physical brain damage, which she was glad for. She tried calling Frieda, but she was in class and had her phone turned off. She'd have to call back later.
Uri had left work early to come and pick her up, and to do the hospital paperwork.
"I think I know what you mean about not driving in the snow," Historia said with a laugh that Uri didn't quite return. "They would have killed me if it hadn't been for..."
She trailed off as she spotted the very girl who had saved her life. Ymir was standing in one of the hospital corridors, listening as a youngish blonde woman was scolding her. Historia picked up on some of the conversation.
"You need to be more careful... blown our cover... move again? No."
The woman stopped mid sentence when she somehow picked up on the fact that Historia was listening.
"Dina, hello," Uri said. He walked over to them, Historia following and trying not to look Ymir in the eyes. "Historia, this is Dina Fritz, and I'm sure you know Ymir."
"Hi, I'm glad that your niece is okay," the woman, Dina, said. "We were coming to make sure you were alright - my daughter witnessed the whole thing, and she was very worried."
Ymir didn't look worried.
"Thank you," Historia whispered, though she wasn't sure who she was thanking. "Ymir, can I talk to you? Alone?"
Ymir and her mother gave each other a look, before Dina left them. Uri left too, saying he had paperwork to fill out.
"What the hell was that?" Historia asked as soon as the adults were out of earshot.
"Well that's one way to thank me for saving your life," Ymir grumbled.
"You stopped that car with your bare hands," Historia said. "And you had to have moved quickly, because you were standing by your car-"
"No, I was standing next to you, and I pushed you out of the way."
Historia could distinctly remember a hand-sized dent in the van. "I remember-"
"You hit your head pretty hard. I wouldn't be surprised if you remembered things wrong."
"I didn't."
Ymir gave her a disgusted look. "Nobody will believe you."
"I won't tell anyone," Historia said, "just tell me the truth."
Ymir laughed. "Good luck. You won't find anything."
She walked away.
Historia stayed home that day, but she hardly rested. She made calls to her sister, and to her father and stepmother, but not to her mother. She figured that nobody would have told her anyway, given how little the woman cared for her.
Historia had become a celebrity since the accident. For starters, the boy who had nearly hit her with his van - Thomas, Historia remembered - had been following her around and apologising every few minutes. In almost all of her classes, somebody asked her for her account of what happened, to which she just said that she didn't want to talk about it. To her friends, however, she told the story that Ymir had told her.
"She pushed me out of the way," Historia said. "Maybe she isn't quite so bad."
"Ymir was standing next to you?" Connie asked. "I thought she was with her siblings by the car."
The statement chilled Historia to the bone.
"You're probably just remembering wrong, Connie," Sasha said with a mouthfull of food. "'Cause I remember Ymir standing near the van afterwards."
Historia looked over her shoulder at the Fritzes' lunch table, and met Ymir's gaze.
There's something up with you, and I'm going to find out what it is.