"Okay," Ruby directed. (They were back home now.) "I'll make the cake. Iris, you're in charge of games. Doom and Skull Boy, decorations. Frank and Len, you'll do music."
"Yeah!" Frank and Len cheered.
"And finally, Scaredy, you can wrap the presents. They're in the Great Hall closet."
Scaredy Bat was still shaking from the ferris wheel incident, despite the fact that he hadn't even been riding it. "If you don't mind, Ruby, I would much rather go back to my room…"
"Okay," Ruby said. "Who wants to take over for Scaredy?"
Boo Boo looked annoyed but raised his ghostly little hand anyway. "I'll do it."
"Thanks, Boo Boo. Now, let's get started!"
"I told you I don't want a party!" Misery said, but everyone was too busy planning her party to listen. So she just stood there in the middle of everything as her friends rushed around, setting up for a party she didn't even want. She sighed. Things had been going okay so far- well, better than she'd expected, at least- but that only greatened her suspicion that it was going to get much worse.
"Cake's ready!" Ruby called. Misery was dragged into the dining room and sat down at the table, where Ruby was putting candles on a large purple cake.
"Stop looking so down, Misery!" Iris said cheerily, bouncing about. "I mean, what could possibly go wrong with cake?"
"Don't jinx it!" Misery cried. "When you say things like that they always happen! That's not even just a me thing, it's a fact!"
"Sorry," Iris shrugged.
Skull Boy turned out the lights as Ruby lit the candles.
"Happy birthday to you," everyone sang, "happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Misery, happy birthday to you!"
Misery eyed the candles. "I don't think fire is a good idea…"
"Just make a wish!" Iris yelled.
Misery hesitated, then closed her eyes and made her wish.
I wish we could all make it through this birthday alive, she thought.
Meanwhile, Boo Boo, who'd finished wrapping the presents, was floating about looking for the perfect prank opportunity. Then he had an idea. He waited behind Misery for a moment, waiting for her to blow out the candles. Once the fire was gone, he gave her a little push, planting her face into the cake. He chuckled.
"This is gold," he said.
Well. That could have gone much worse, Misery thought, grateful the candles hadn't been lit. But before she could remove her face from the cake, the candles reignited.
"Oh, no!" Ruby said. "I bought trick candles by mistake!"
Misery jumped up, her face burning. Her intention was to find some water to douse the fire, but as the flaming frosting all over her face made it difficult to see, what she ended up doing instead was tripping over a chair and falling straight out the window that someone had carelessly left open. She landed in a small pond, thankfully putting out the fire, but before she could get her bearings, one of Iris's carnivorous plants grabbed her by the leg and yanked her upwards. It started chewing on her leg like a dog on a rawhide bone.
"Ow! Stop- I'm not- food!" Misery tried, though she knew that even if the plant could understand her, it couldn't care less about her pain. Just then, Misery saw Iris jump out the window. She landed expertly on her feet and tossed a peppermint up in the plant's direction. It snapped eagerly at the candy, dropping Misery to the ground hard.
"I told you, eat peppermints, not friends!" Iris called to the plant.
"It's not very well-trained," Misery said as Iris helped her get to her feet.
"You okay?" Iris asked.
"Define 'okay.'"
As she hobbled inside, Misery bitterly noted that Iris had once told her the plants were harmless.
A bit later, Misery sat on the floor of her room, bandaging her leg as Boo Boo poured cool water over her face.
"Seriously, I didn't mean to do that!" he said. "It was just supposed to be a prank!"
"I know," Misery replied. "Again, not your fault. Stuff's going to happen to me no matter what anybody does. You need to stop blaming yourselves for it."
"Well, in a little while, why don't you open your presents?" Ruby asked. "How does that sound?"
"Sure," she sighed.