Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray(100)
“Widerstehen Sie der Tyrannei,” Miles says. “Resist tyranny.”
“Just like in Mormor’s fairy tale,” Chloe says.
“I think I just got chills,” Danny says, and for once it’s not the on-ramp to some rude joke. “So it seems like your artist guy, Egon Wagner, was actually a true resister.”
“Wow. That was brave, sending subliminal messages like that in the very paintings he was commissioned to do for the Reich,” Chloe says.
“But I saved the best for last,” Danny says. “That Dodauer Forest, or however you say it, has a pretty famous matchmaking tree called the Bridegroom’s Oak. Which I thought was interesting ’cause of the magic tree in your grandma’s story.”
“Yeah, we know all of this,” Miles says.
“Patience, young Padawan. Anyway. I found this.”
Danny sends them a photograph of two girls, one blond, one brunette, beneath a huge oak tree with a ladder leaning against its trunk. Beneath the photograph is a caption in German, which Miles translates: Last picnic beside the Bridegroom’s Oak. There are two names listed: Sophie and Hanna.
“Wow,” Chloe says. “I’m not sure if you’re a complete genius or you’re gonna go work for Skynet and kill us all.”
“Thanks. Does this mean I get to be part of the podcast? You can bill me as Complete Genius. I don’t mind.” Danny’s grin turns sly. “So, Chloe, did Miles tell you about our fabulous Zoom Prom? You two should totally go! Could be the best thing in lockdown.”
Miles texts Danny: Dude. NO.
You can thank me later, Danny shoots back.
“Mmm. Still traumatized from my bat mitzvah,” Chloe answers cagily. “What if one of the resistance members ended up making it to Berlin and that was Mama D’s therapist friend, Frau Hermann? Didn’t your mom say that she was haunted by guilt?”
Excellent pivot, Miles texts.
Not my first time at the rodeo, Chloe responds.
“Yeah,” Danny says. “So, did she rat out her friends?”
“Hanna and Sophie are wearing BDM uniforms,” Miles says meaningfully. “Doesn’t exactly scream ‘resistance.’”
Danny lights up. “Whoa! They were into BDM?”
“Not what you’re thinking, DanDan.”
“Yeah, but like Egon, it would be a good way to hide in plain sight and avoid suspicion,” Chloe muses. “Really clever, actually.”
“League of German Girls would be an awesome dirndl-porn website,” Danny says.
“Dude!” Miles chides.
“Chloe! I need you!” Joyce yells.
“Oh my god. I’m seriously gonna lose my entire freaking mind. One sec.” Chloe gets up from her laptop and leaves them staring at her empty chair.
“I gotta jet soon,” Danny says.
“Why? There’s a literal pandemic on, in case you haven’t noticed.” Miles hopes he doesn’t sound too annoyed. They just started getting somewhere in the mystery. And having his friends together again feels … nice.
“Going to a community AAPI meeting with Amy. We’re talking with our city councilman about the hate crimes that’ve been going down.”
“Whoa,” Miles says. Danny has never been politically active about anything.
“Yeah. Actually, Chi hooked me up with her voter group so we can register people in the neighborhood who have been thinking about voting. Hey. You should totally come to the meeting. We could use as many voices as possible. I can send you the Zoom link.”
“Uh, maybe,” Miles demurs. He’s known Danny a long time; he can tell by his expression that he’s disappointed in Miles. “Anyway. I thought you didn’t like Chi.”
“I never said that. I said she was intense. Which is still true. But you know what? Maybe it’s time for the rest of us to get a little intense, too. Better than sitting on my ass gaming all day. People can surprise you,” Danny says. He leans back and folds his arms across his chest and looks directly into the camera at Miles with a new seriousness. “And it’s never too late for us to surprise ourselves. You know?”
Chloe returns, much to Miles’s relief. “Sorry. Hey, Danny, can you send me that picture of Hanna and Sophie?”
“Sure thing.”
A few seconds later, Chloe’s phone pings. She stares intently at her screen. “They’re younger than us,” she says. “And maybe they were killed for fighting back. Or maybe they escaped and went on to live long lives somewhere. Either way, you can tell how much they love each other.”
They all take a good long look. In this moment, Miles feels the scrutiny of history, as if these two girls from the past are looking to him to carry their message forward.
And then Danny says, “Wait, so, like, they were hot for each other?”
* * *
“Sorry about Danny,” Miles says to Chloe later when it’s just the two of them.
Chloe rolls her eyes. “Yeah. He’s a lot. But gotta admit, he found some good stuff. Maybe he’ll be okay in seven years.”
“Why seven?”
“There’s a theory that every seven years, our cells turn over and replace themselves. So maybe you become a completely new person in time. Like, change is inevitable. Literally encoded into our cells.”