Chapter Text
Ymir brushed her blinds out of the way and peered out of her window on the side of her house, staring at the driveway of the house to her left. There were trucks. Four of them lined up in front of it.
Great . Now she’ll keep on getting complaints from her new neighbors about the smell of smoke coming from her room.
What she also noticed was that the exterior and the backyard of the house were cleaner than before. She could see the cleanliness most when the brick met the white siding.
Just splendid, she was going to be living next to another rich freak. She peered over to where the two backyards were, a white picket fence separating them. A large contrast. Ymir’s backyard had overgrown grass contained by the fencing and random items that didn’t have anywhere else to go were sprawled out here and there, whilst her new neighbor’s was mostly empty. But the lawn was recently manicured and there were fresh beds of dirt, ready for planting.
She had observed the moving people bring in large boxes and above-average furniture into the shell of a home. After that house was vacant for so long, she debated on breaking in and using it as a hangout spot. Now that plan was off the table.
With a sigh, she plopped back onto her bed and thought of all the ways this small event could ruin the entirety of summer break. It just pissed her off seeing the same trope of people come and go while she was stuck here, in this godforsaken small town.
Soon enough, the sun was setting, and it was almost time for Ymir to head to work. It had to be illegal to work this late of a shift. But she needed to make a living somehow—at least enough to survive when she could finally be given the opportunity to move out of her household.
Tightening the laces on her shoes, she headed out the door. As she was walking down the driveway, she shoved her hands in her pockets to not seem suspicious and became a little too curious, craning her neck back to the house to the point of hurting. Ymir took a little detour and walked back through her backyard gate.
She managed to find a random chair residing in the yard to step on to give her some leverage. Propelling herself up the picket fence, she took her sweet time examining the nuclear-family-looking backyard.
Everything seemed so shiny—blinding in comparison. The bushes were trimmed to resemble spheres, and were those..? Guidelines for a pool? First someone was moving in, and next they’re gonna start building a stupid-ass pool? Not to mention, the noise that would transpire the weeks following would be excruciating.
When Ymir decided that she had enough, she hopped back down onto her overgrown lawn, and stormed off in the direction of her workplace.
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Upon arriving back at home, she threw her uniform into the corner of her bedroom, that stupid paper hat the diner forced her to wear went along with it too. Rough day . Fanning herself with her shirt, the humidity wasn’t helping at all, so she cracked open the only window in her room, where it was facing the other house. She sighed at the cooler air and came closer.
She sat down on her knees and propped her hand up, leaning against the windowsill, using her free hand to fish for the familiar rectangular carton. Amidst her frantic search of the box, her eyes darted up to the house in front of her. Coincidentally, the neighbor's window was also open, which gave the perfect opportunity to sneak a peek; it wouldn’t hurt anyone, she thought.
Then, she saw it: billowing white lace curtains blew in time with the slight breeze outside, contrasting with the warm summer sunset. Ymir could ever-so-slightly make out a head full of golden locks, her back turned against her.
She was practically a princess— a rich brat that one would only see in movies, she assumed. Despite having only seen the back of a girl’s head, Ymir decided at that moment that whoever that girl may be, she would absolutely hate her.