Roger drove his old Camry over to the ritzier side of town where his boss and her daughter resided. The Hopkirks weren't uber rich, but they were firmly upper middle class, just as the Gibsons were lower. He pulled into the neighborhood of Meadowbrooke Estates and parked in front of the Hopkirk home. He quickly jogged up to the front door and rang the doorbell.
Lisa Hopkirk, a fit woman in her mid thirties, answered the door. She was still wearing her yoga pants and sports bra from her daily jog and was momentarily confused to see her subordinate showing up at her house out of the blue. She was the head of the accountancy department for McMillan Industries and supervised a large team, so she wasn't intimately familiar with Roger, considering him a thoroughly average employee. However her confusion cleared and turned to dread when she saw the scrap of paper in his hand; it was the game.
"I suppose we should head to my room so we can change?"
"Ah, not quite Mrs. Hopkirk. I'm afraid it was Bethany who was chosen, not you."
Lisa's dread intensified. She felt she could tough out a week of losing her identity but she was now terrified that her darling daughter would have to go through it. Still, those were the rules of the game, and she had no power to work against them. Mutely she led Roger into her home and upstairs to Bethany's room.
Bethany Hopkirk's room was an explosion of pink, with most of the furniture bearing some shade of the color. It was also obviously the room of a well to do girl, as toys, accessories, and more filled the room, many of them seeming to be hardly touched. The girl herself was sprawled out on her bed, talking on her cellphone with her best friend Charlotte, before excusing herself and ending the call when she saw her mom had brought company in.
"Hi Mom, what's up? Oh, and nice to meet you, Mr..."
"Gibson," Roger supplied, "Or I suppose I should say Hopkirk, as I will be Bethany Hopkirk for the next week while you carry out the duties of Roger Gibson." Bethany was perplexed before horror dawned on her. This was the game. Like all children in Lake Valley, she'd been taught about the game from an early age, so she'd know how to behave when a neighbor or a teacher was suddenly replaced for a time. However she'd never realized it could happen to her. Tears welled in her eyes.
"You can't! It's my Birthday this week! I'm Bethany!"
Roger gently shooed a helpless Lisa from the room before closing the door. "I'm afraid you're not. I'm Bethany Hopkirk, and it's my birthday this week, Mr. Gibson. All my friends are coming and they'd sure be weirded out if you were hanging around." Roger began pitching his voice up as he spoke and subtly mimicking Bethany's hands on hips stance. Bethany looked like she was going to protest further, but Roger stamped his foot petulantly.
"Now please get out of my clothes, Mr. Gibson! You look ridiculous anyways, a forty year old man shouldn't wear a twelve year old girl's clothes, even if she's going to be 13 in a few days. Did Mom tell you their renting out the entire water park for my party? I'm so excited!" Roger's impression of Bethany improved with every word from his lips. To facilitate the game, the Gibson's were given backdoor access to all resident's social media, so he'd reviewed Bethany's before coming over, learning about her party plans.
Bethany sniffled but began to comply. She removed her skinny jeans and orange cami top, setting them at the foot of her bed. Her simple white cotton bra and panties followed. She set the locket she'd been wearing, the one with a picture of her and her Mom at Disney the previous year, on her pink dresser. Finally she pulled the hair ties holding her blonde hair in two long blonde pig tails out and set them next to her locket. She then sat on her bed, cuddling her stuffed pony, Chestnut, to her chest as Roger began to disrobe as well.
As it was the weekend, Roger was dressed somewhat casually in a red polo shirt and tan slacks. He pulled them off and set them folded on the bed near Bethany, along with his briefs and socks. He then set his wedding band atop it before beginning his transformation into Bethany Hopkirk. As part of the magic allowing the game to work, clothes that would be ripped or torn when a Gibson put them on, magically resized to somewhat fit the body. So Roger Gibson was soon standing in Bethany's cute cami top and skinny jeans, slipping the phone she'd set aside into one of his backpockets. He smiled as he put on her locket; for the next week Lisa would have to direct her maternal feelings of love at him.
"Gah, Mr. Gibson! What are you doing holding Chestnut? She's my stuffed animal!" Roger proclaimed before snatching Chestnut away from Bethany and holding the pony close to him. He pushed his own clothes towards Bethany, "Now get your clothes on and let's exchange notes! I need to call Charlotte back since you interrupted my call earlier!"
