The week goes smoothly

''You know, I sort of miss our third wheels,'' John says with a straight face, before he breaks into a smile.

You chuckle at that, but the glare from the library lady quickly silence you.

The local library is rather quiet at this time in the evening. The library at a Saturday isn't exactly the most packed room in town. A few senior citizen huddle around the newspaper area not far away from the research area where you, John, Jessica and Samantha set up camp to tackle a history project. It's as much a joint research effort as it is a double date. From the corner of your eyes, the library lady, hell-bent on preserving the order and silence at the library busies herself with some magazine.

Almost a week has passed from the time you gave the pens to Jimmy. Although you saw him at school and sometimes after classes, he seemed to be less available than he generally would be. You try not to think about Jimmy abusing the powers of the pens, but that's the most plausible explanation in your mind.

''What's so interesting?'' Samantha returns with some books and with Jessica in tow.

''Just discussing our third wheels,'' you say, ''They've gone AWOL.''

''I don't mind. They could get a bit distracting sometimes, ''Samantha says and takes the seat beside John.

''You distract me,'' John leans in and snatches a quick peck. Maybe a bit more than just a quick peck afterwards, but you don't really pay attention anymore as your girlfriend takes her seat beside you.

In many sense, it's the return to normalcy that you doubted you'll never see again after you found those pens.

Except for the nagging doubt at the back of your mind.

***

''I haven't seen you all week, what are you up to?'' you put down the controller and grin smugly. You're back at Jimmy's on Sunday afternoon to give him the mandatory once-a-week whipping at FIFA Ultimate Team.

''Stuffs,'' Jimmy shrugs and throws his controller on his bed. Try as he might, he never beat you.

Your conversation is interrupted by a knock on the door.

''Yes, come in!,'' Jimmy yells without taking his eyes off the screen.

Heather comes in wearing a white tank top and denim hot pants. You quickly try to avert your gaze as to not ogle her directly. You haven't seen her since the time that she was turned into a lifeless skin that Jimmy then wore. The first victim of the pair of pens in your possession. Your mind goes to the time when she crawled on top of you, her body brushing against yours. The tank top and hot pants leave little to imagination.

''What do you want?'' Jimmy doesn't glance at his sister as he continues to fiddle with the setup of his team.

''Just looking at what you're up to, twerp,'' Heather snarkily answers back.

''Then you can make yourself useful and be a witness of me beating David at FIFA,'' a grin spreads over Jimmy's, ''Sorry dude, you're going down.''

''Whatever,'' Heather sits beside you with her legs crossed.

''Dream on dude,'' you chuckle. You're not going to let Jimmy win and you certainly wouldn't now, especially now Heather's sitting beside you. You glance to your right, at where Heather is seated, but you focus your attention back at the screen. The match has just started.

''Lucky shot,'' Jimmy curses after you scored a goal.

''Looks like Heather's going to be a witness of my victory after all,'' you chuckle.

''We'll see about that,'' Jimmy mutters.

You almost jump out of your skin when you feel a hand snakes along the side of your thigh. While it isn't enough to make you jump, it's still enough to make your team lose possession of the ball.

''It's the comeback!'' Jimmy says in glee as his team scored against yours.

What the fuck?, you glance at Heather, but she's fixated on the screen and doesn't look at you. You notice that she's sitting a few inches further back from where you're sitting.

In the second half, you make a few good chances, but the anticipation of something unusual happening kills your concentration and you end up wasting those chances.

''David'', you hear a barely audible whisper.

Ignoring it, you focus even more on the match. You can't lose now.

''David, David,'' the whispers are still barely audible, but they've picked up some sense of urgency.

Finally, you can't help but to glance at the direction of the voice, only to see Heather shaking her boobs at you. Her tank top is pulled up, just above her breasts.

''Alright!,'' Jimmy's shout snaps you back to reality. His team has scored another goal, ''Looks like you're going to lose,''

He scores in the dying minutes of the game and there isn't any time for you to get another goal.

''Wait, what,'' you say, flabbergasted. ''Jimmy, I-''

''You're not getting away out of this one dude,'' Jimmy chuckles.

''Wait, Heather, she was-,''

''What was I doing?'' Heather cuts in with a quizzical look on her face.

''You were-, '' now you can't finish your sentence as you feel Jimmy's and Heather's eyes look at you intently, ''Fuck,''

''Is it wrong that I want to shake my boobs at your face?'' Heather grins uncharacteristically and strips her tank top off. Meanwhile, Jimmy howls with laughter just centimetres away from you.

***

''Dude, the look on your face,'' Jimmy can't contain his laughter for the umpteenth time.

''Fucking hell Jimmy,'' you mutter.

''You guys should've let me in sooner,'' Eric quips. Of course, the entire fiasco involving Heather was orchestrated by Jimmy, with Eric's help. Apparently, Jimmy has told Eric about your new playthings and the two of them conspired to play a prank on you.

''Still, it was pretty neat, wasn't it?'' Jimmy holds up the deflated skin of Heather and casts it on the bed.

''I still can't believe that these pens are able to let me be anyone, '' Eric says with a hint of curiosity in his voice. ''The technology behind this thing must be from some alien source or it could be secret government research. How did it end up with you?''

''I don't know,'' you shrug. A lot of the things that happened doesn't make a lot of sense to you.

''It's hard to describe, but I felt like I was really Heather,'' Eric nods at the skin, ''Except for a small voice in the back of my mind that retains my sense of self. I even seemed to turn into her.'' Eric takes off his glasses, ''Normally, I couldn't even see clearly without my glasses.''

''Look, are we just going to discuss about these pens all day, or are we going to make a good use out of them?'' Jimmy takes the pens away from you and Eric.

''What do you have in mind?'' Eric re-adjusts his glasses.

''Well, the three of us have the entire day free tomorrow,'' Jimmy smirks.

''Wait, what?'' you can't believe your ears. It's true the three of you have some free classes, but not all of them.

''Don't worry about it young Padawan. We took care of everything.'' Jimmy shares a knowing smile with Eric.

''Jesus, Jimmy. Just promise me no one got sent to the ER.''

''Have you guys told John about these pens?'' Eric's question draws both your attention and Jimmy's.

''No,'' Jimmy says slowly.

''Well, we should, then we'll have our D'Artagnan.'' Eric quip, ''He should have all his subjects all cleared out tomorrow as well.''

''No, I don't think we should let him now about this.''