With the front door shut, Officer Stevens turns to inspect his son's friend: If he remembers correctly, his name is Grant Carter. The teenager was not an accomplice in his son's vandalizing of the old lady's house, but he is definitely not the type of person he would have wanted his son to hang around with. Grant has shaggy, dark-brown hair and is quite skinny, a fact that is not at all hidden by his T-shirt. Grant's studded jeans make Officer Stevens cringe, but he pushes those feelings down as he begins speaking with him.
"Peter's up in his room if you want to head up there."
"Thanks," Grant replies timidly before making his way up the stairs.
-
Knock-knock-knock
Pulling his hand back from the door, Grant reaches for the doorknob.
"Pete? You in there?"
Grant slowly opens the door, opening enough space for him to poke his head through. The sight that greets him could not have been more shocking: Peter's room has been shrunk dramatically. Shoved against the corner sits a cold, metal cot with a military green blanket. Very close to the bed sits a metal desk, chair, and wardrobe. Gone were the posters on the wall, replaced by a single mirror that reflects Peter's profile.
"Pete-" Grant fully takes in the new Peter: His hair has been shaved almost completely off, leaving only a bit on the very top of his head. He's standing tall and erect, with his hands folded behind his back. He's wearing an extraordinarily uncomfortable-looking uniform of a blue blazer and dress pants. A black stripe runs down each leg of his pants, and a black tie is tightly knotted against Peter's throat. A metal name tag bearing Peter's last name, "Stevens," glints in the light, and a black leather belt is sashed across Peter's waist. Lastly, Grant looks down at Peter's boots, which are of a matching shiny black leather that feature tightly bound laces.
"Dude, what on earth happened to you? Did your dad make you join the military or something?" Grant walks in Peter's room and closes the door behind him.
Peter, controlled by his father, is unable to respond. He wants to tell him to get out, but he can only move his eyes to try and convey a sense of approaching danger.
"Wh-what," Grant says nervously, "Can you not talk or something?"
At that moment, Officer Stevens suddenly throws the door open with the stone Sarge gave him in-hand.
"Grant Carter," Office Stevens says with an authoritative tone, "I have deemed you worthy of joining my at-home bootcamp."
"Your what?" Grant turns away from Peter and sees Officer Stevens clenching a small stone in his hand.
Before Grant can move any further, Officer Stevens shouts, "ATTEN-HUT!"
Upon hearing this word--and not of his own volition--Grant straightens his stance, slightly tips his chin up, puffs his chest out, and pushes his shoulders back. He has clicked his heels together and has his toes slightly angled away from each other. Meanwhile, his arms lay parallel to his torso, with his hands positioned in a loose clench.
Terrified, Grant can only move his eyes around as his face rests expressionless.
"I'm so glad you came by, Grant. You know what they say: 'Iron sharpens iron.' I'm sure you and Peter will push each other to be the best future Marines possible."
Grant's eyes open in horror as Officer Stevens continues gloating. "Go and stand next to your fellow cadet, Cadet Carter."
"Sir, yes, sir!" Grant smartly turns on his heel and proceeds to march into position alongside Peter. Catching his friend's eyes as he passes, he sees Peter's eyes conveying a very clear sense of sorriness and pity. Upon reaching his place beside Peter, Grant clicks his heels together again and resumes standing at attention.
"Let's get you looking right," Officer Stevens says. Almost immediately, Grant's scalp begins to tingle. Unable to move, Grant continues standing at attention as he sees chunks of hair fall past his line of vision. Officer Stevens looks on proudly as he gives Grant a matching haircut to Peter's. "Much better," he says as he continues the changes. Grant's band t-shirt shifts into a starched white button-down, and a black tie is tightly affixed around Grant's collar. A sharp gunmetal blue blazer materializes over Grant's button-down, adorned with a metal name tag bearing his last name, "Carter," over the left breast pocket. His studded jeans morph from denim to wool as they take on the same gunmetal blue as the blazer. Two black stripes run down the length of the pants as Grant's canvas Converse begin changing into heavy, black leather boots. The boots encroach up Grant's ankles and are tightly laced against his black dress socks. Now experiencing the same discomfort as Peter, Grant feels a hard military hat of the same gunmetal blue color appear at his side affixed to the black leather belt that is bound around his waist.
"Cadet Stevens," Officer Stevens remarks snidely, "Isn't it nice to not have to go through bootcamp alone? To have a platoon mate?"
"Sir, yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" Peter barks out loudly in response.
"Ah," Officer Stevens realizes, "I guess we're going to need more room in here." Cadets Stevens and Carter hear creaking noises all around them as the room is expanded. Another metal cot with olive green sheets is added to the opposite corner of the room, and an additional desk, chair, mirror, and wardrobe are added for Grant.
"That should do it," Officer Stevens says with a sigh as he deposits the stone in his pocket. "PARAAAADE, REST!"
Cadets Stevens and Carter spread their feet apart and clasp their hands just above their butts as they assume the position of parade rest.
Officer Stevens opens the door to the cadets' room and says, "You two will stay here while I go share the news of Cadet Carter's admission with his family. I expect you two to be ready for physical training upon my return. Am I understood?"
"Sir, yes, sir!" Cadets Stevens and Carter scream as Officer Stevens steps out.
"Fall out," Officer Stevens remarks as he shuts the door. The two cadets break their stance and turn to each other.
"Grant-," Peter begins, "I'm so so sorry. I had no idea what my dad was capable of."
"He's gonna turn us into Marines, isn't he," Grant quietly says as he inspects his uniform. Turning to the mirror, he looks at his new haircut. He and Peter both have a high-n-tight. Bringing a hand to it, he feels his bald scalp on the sides of his head and only the tiny bit of remaining hair on the top. Moving away from the mirror, he inspects his new wardrobe: In it hangs an identical copy to the uniform he wears now, which he somehow knows is his dress uniform. There are multiple BDU's in the wardrobe, one an olive green, one a gunmetal blue, and another a sandy beige color. Additionally, there is an olive green tank top and nylon shorts folded neatly in a drawer near the bottom of the wardrobe, and a standard pair of gray running shoes. "Probably what we wear for training," Grant thinks to himself. To his disdain, Grant sees an additional pair of the black boots he is wearing right now sitting next to a pair of less imposing black dress shoes. Closing the wardrobe, Grant sits down on his cot. He looks over at Peter, whom he is now dressed identical to and shares a haircut with.
"I guess we're platoon mates, now," Peter says exasperatedly.
"Yep," Grant says as he tugs on the extremely uncomfortable boots. "How long is he gonna keep us like this?"
"He told me he was gonna make me stay here and take online classes even in college, but then he said we are gonna be Marines, so maybe he changed his mind when you came. Thanks for that, Grant."
"Hm," Grant simply muttered. Thinking back to when an army recruiter came to their high school, he remembers that one can enlist in the military with a parent's permission at 17 years old. He and Peter are both 16, so maybe he only has to deal with Peter's deranged dad for a year.
With that thought, the door is thrown open again, and Officer Stevens brazenly steps inside. "ATTEN-HUT," he yells at the cadets.
The two cadets quickly hop off their beds and assume the position of attention facing Officer Stevens.
"I hope you two are ready for some PT. Get those dress uniforms off now and get into your PT uniforms!"
"Sir, yes, sir!" Cadets Stevens and Carter shout. As he strips his dress uniform off and neatly hangs it back up in his metal wardrobe, his mind wanders to how his parents must have reacted to Officer Stevens telling them the news. Putting the tank top and nylon shorts on his thin body, he recalls that weird stone Officer Stevens was holding as he changed him into this cadet.
"He must have used that stone to make my parents okay with this. Maybe if I can get that stone, I can put a stop to this," Grant thinks to himself as he slips a pair of white ankle socks and the gray running shoes on his feet. He tucks the tank top into his shorts and inspects himself in the mirror to make sure everything is in order. The tank top hangs loosely on his sloped shoulders, laying bare his puny and pale arms for everyone to see. His haircut, typically seen on muscular military men, stands in stark contrast to the rest of his body. He turns from the mirror, seeing Peter wearing the same get-up but looking a bit more natural in it thanks to his genetically bigger stature, and resumes the attention stance in front of Officer Stevens.
"Alright, Cadets, let's go to the front yard to begin."
"Sir, yes, sir!" Cadets Stevens and Carter begin marching down the stairs in perfect synchronization, eventually reaching the empty front yard. Officer Stevens pulls the stone from his pocket and says, "Alright, let's make this interesting."