Use a pen on someone in town

You decide the best thing to do is stay in town. That way you can check the situation, work out what the pens do, and see if you can rescue your friends from being worn as expendable disguises. You know they've impersonated Jimmy and Jessica... who else?

If you know anything about hiding (and you'd like to think you've seen enough trashy movies to have an idea), it's to hide in plain sight. They'll be checking for people leaving town somehow - it's what anyone smart would do. They'll also probably take over your family, too: maybe Tina or Nick. The ideal option for you is to hide somewhere in between.

That's when it hits you. You know just the person they'll never suspect. A person who's close enough to let you keep tabs on both your family and your friends. You'll be the one person 'Elena' actually suggested you become. They'll never suspect that.

*****

The door opens slowly. "Yes? Can I help you?" Miss Franklin is applying curling tongs to her hair as she opens the door, still dressed as you saw her earlier: conservatively. You look into her hotel room: it's a double, but she seems the only occupant. Lucy's lips widen in a smile.

"Actually, it's the other way round. I saw you drop something at the mall earlier, I thought I'd return it. I heard you and your friends talking about this hotel, so I thought I'd track you down, see if there's a reward or something?"

Franklin looks confused. "Wow. Uhm... that's very kind of you to track me down like this. But I really don't think I did lose anything."

"Really? Because I found this pendant, with a metal guy's face on it, next to a sink, and..." You know Miss Franklin always wears a pendant with a little Alexander the Great on it. She's not wearing it now, and while it wasn't dropped, you're hoping the confusion is enough to buy you time. Franklin looks concerned for a moment and sets down the tongs, rushing to check her shoulder bag.

You step into her room, close the door, and fire the brown pen. "Sorry, miss," you mumble. Before she's turned around, before you've recovered from the storm of information flooding your mind, you fire the black.

"Weird," you say, rubbing Lucy's brow with the brown pen as you recover from the shock. "I always thought her name was Hannah." It's not - it's Vanessa.

Quickly, you strip out of Lucy's clothes. You're about to remove her overweight body and don Franklin's skin when you pause, and wonder what the other pens do. You pull out the red one, point it at Franklin, and fire. Nothing happens. You point and fire again. Nothing.

"Well...the red one's a load of crap," you shrug. Next, white. As you point, you realize it's got two settings: there's a way to switch the buttons. Hmm. It's more complex than the others, so you decide to leave it. Instead, you level the blue and...

Your head spins. Right now you have your own personality and thoughts, but there are two others, vying for a place. Franklin's mannerisms and essential details, and... Lucy's memories. All of them. You remember her cat Pogo, hit by a car ten years ago. The shame and embarrassment every time you - no, she - looks in a mirror. You remember Marie, and Vincent, and your highschool romance. Wow...so that's the blue pen. Memories! Seized with this useful information, and aware the brown pen's information is beginning to fade, you finally slip out of your Lucy shell, and head over to Franklin.

Once you're finished climbing inside, you pick up her glasses and slip them on. The room turns from a fuzzy blur to vivid clarity, and you look at yourself in the mirror. The naked, short, mousy-brown haired woman facing you looks as if she just wants to duck into her shell.

You pick up the blue pen and fire it, her memories flooding in. You remember her childhood on the other side of the country, the teasing calls of other girls as you ignored sports and focused on Greek history. You remember falling head over heels for the ancient heroes, until one day your own hero - Ian - arrived to sweep you off your feet. You remember your excitement at his proposal, and for your girl's night on the town tonight - your memories tell you she's nowhere near as quiet as she is in class. Vanessa's smile widens as you recall the reason she gave you the grades she did... and her perspective on all the goofing you and Jimmy did when you were supposed to be studying. You're amazed how much of it she knew, and never spoke of.

But you don't have time for this. You need to get ready. You pick up the tongs, and begin to finish your hair and makeup. Then you slip on your revealing dress for the night: a white ruffle-skirt dress. The moment you finish zipping it up, you realize just how stunning Miss Vanessa (Nessa to her friends) Franklin actually is: her meekness has hidden a true beauty right under your nose. You hope it will do the same for your pursuers.

You smile, and don the "Bride to be" sash and cheap, rhinestone tiara the girls brought you earlier, getting into character. With her memories, mannerisms and personal information, nobody will be able to tell you're not Nessa Franklin: you could even fool her fiance or family if you wanted. You're safe for the time being, and the sensible thing to do seems to be to pretend to be her tonight until you can get time to think. After tonight, you've got a day to recover and plan out your move before 'you' return to teaching: and spying on Trish and Jimmy to keep them safe.

There's still the question of what to do about Lucy, too. You can't leave the poor girl as a deflated skin in a hotel room, can you? And your bachelorette party is about to begin...