Maz and I both look at her.
“What?” Maz asks.
“Last night,” Birdie says. “My glasses stayed on my face and are intact.”
I force a smile. “Life is weird like that, right?”
“It really is,” Birdie says.
Her eyes fill with tears.
Maz and I rush to her sides.
She shakes her head.
“It’ll take time,” Maz says. “A ton of time.”
“How?” Birdie asks. “Why? Is it because I’m me? Because of the way I look? Or because I was having a good time?”
“I’m going to fix this,” I blurt out.
Maz and Birdie look at me.
I stand up.
“I’m going to fucking fix this,” I say.
“You can’t undo what’s done,” Birdie says.
“There’s a way to handle these kinds of things,” I say. “Right, Maz?”
Maz swallows hard. She nods. “Yeah, there is.”
“It’s my job to handle it.”
“It’s not your job, Jaci,” Birdie says. “I put myself-”
“Shut up, Birdie,” I say. “You did nothing wrong. You attended that Halloween party like the rest of us did. Someone took advantage of who you are. Someone forgot who you’re protected by.”
“Protected by?” Birdie asks.
“Me,” I say. “I’m protecting you. You too, Maz. This is my fucking job now. I stayed here with theThornsfor a reason. And now it’s time for me to show everyone who I really am.”
“Do you know who you really are?” Maz asks.
“I’m Jaci fucking Ruby,” I say. “I don’t care if my birth last name starts withRylor any other letters. I’m Jaci Ruby. I’m anHeir. And what happened to my best friend last night is not right.”
“Best friend?” Birdie asks. “Really?”
“You both are,” I say. “From the second I showed up here. You both have been there for me. You mean everything to me. I’m sorry to do this again, Birdie, but I need to know what happened last night. Now that you’re sober. Is there anything else you remember?”
Birdie shook her head. “Honestly, no. I was walking through the party. I was dancing and singing. He came up behind me and put his hands to my hips. I looked, saw the clown mask and laughed. We kept dancing. Getting closer. More touching and all that. I told him to take the mask off because I had made out with too many clowns in my life. Just trying to be funny. He said we should go to a bedroom and he’d take more than the mask off.”
“What about his voice?” I ask. “Anything that you remember?”
“No,” Birdie says. “The music was playing. I wasn’t paying attention to his voice.”
“Okay, that’s okay,” I say. “You don’t have to say anything else. You don’t have to repeat it.”