Everyone stared at Misery.

"What?" Ruby asked, alarmed.

"That wasn't the bad thing I was talking about," Misery repeated, struggling to free herself from the pile of destroyed ferris wheel car pieces.

"But- No! That can't be true." Ruby laughed nervously. "How was that not the bad thing?"

"That was only minorly catastrophic," she said. "It's still leading up to the really bad things. First there was the front stairs, then the muffin, then the lightning, then the ferris wheel. If this year is like all my previous birthdays, there'll be three more things before the grand finale. And if this is like the fourteenth birthday of everyone else in my family... we're all in trouble."

Everyone looked worried.

"Now do you understand why you should stay away from me today?" Misery said. "That could have been you instead of just me. And there are still four more disasters to go!"

"Yes, I believe we get the point," Scaredy said frantically. "Best of luck to you, Misery." He started to scurry off, but Ruby stopped him.

"Private meeting, guys!" Ruby announced. "Misery, you stay here."

"O...kay... I'll just... stay here then."

Ruby took them all aside.

"Guys, we can't let Misery know we're worried," she said.

"Why?" Iris asked. "Wouldn't she be happy to know we care about her?"

"No, Iris. Look at her- she's trying to act like it's no big deal like she usually does, but I can tell she's really scared. If she catches on that we're worried, it'll only make her worry more."

"Wait, so if we worry, she does, and if we don't, we do, but she doesn't know we do, so she doesn't, but she does? Wait... I'm confused," Len said.

Frank sighed. "Never mind, Len, you're just not getting it."

"I understand," said Skull Boy, "but I don't know if I can act that well. I'm really worried about her."

"Me too," Iris said. "I mean, what if something bad does happen? And what about us? What if it happens to us, too?"

"It won't. You know why? Because we won't let it. I now have no doubt that Misery's bad luck is trying extra hard today. But all we have to do is try even harder. Get it?"

There was a murmur of agreement.

"Great! Come on, let's go make sure the rest of her birthday is fun and disaster-free."