Stefan knew this family trip to Alaska would suck.
Freezing cold the whole time, and now, Dad decides to helicopter them to some insanely remote "resort" far in the middle of nowhere.
Nice resort, but it seemed weird. It was pretty classy, although it had a Santa-Clause, North-Pole style that seemed weird, considering it was September. Mom and Dad acted totally distracted; his mom was laying out clothes for him for some hike, and his Dad was downstairs, signing some sort of contract.
At 11 years old, Stefan hardly needed Mom to pick his clothes, but she was acting weird and insisted he wear this new bunch of winter clothes, which looked like some mix between old-timey wear and modern ski-kid stuff.
The door knocked and a hotel employee, wearing a red and green suit that while fairly recognizable as a bell-hop uniform looked very odd considering the colors, dropped off their "Welcome Here" hot chocolate. Stefans mother handed him the one in an Elf-themed Christmas mug, while her own was just green with red trim.
While he sipped the admittedly delicious hot chocolate, he held up one of the socks; it was way too long, and bright blue. "Mom? What's with the socks? These things must be for a 7 foot tall dude!"
"Stefan, no, they're high-tech, stay-dry socks that will keep your entire legs toasty warm. They look no different than your soccer socks, just longer, now pull them on, honey."
Stefan shrugs and pulls them up; they actually fit him perfectly, coming right up to the tops of his legs and meeting the leg openings of his snug underwear. "Way weird, mom. They feel okay, but this they look like tights."
"Hush up, you're cute as a button in them and you'll get used to them soon enough. Now drink your chocolate and finish getting dressed! The hike starts soon and your father will be coming up soon."
Stefan next picked up the pants, which unlike the socks, were way too short. "Mom, come on, what are these, they barely come to my knees and have, like elastic around the bottoms of the legs! What aRE... what are THese?" Stefans voice squeeked a little as he spoke into a slightly higher register.
"The socks are warm enough for your legs even at -30, Stefan, and those knickers are made with Gore-Tex and Ultra-Fleece, you'd actually be too warm if they were full length! Don't worry, honey, I promise you, there are other kids here and believe me, lots of them wear the exact same thing. There's quite the community here, and you know your father and I are staying a full week with you here at the public resort! It'll be fun!"
Something about that sounded wrong, but Stefan was feeling totally off wearing such strange clothes, and a bit dizzy as well. His Dad walked in and layed a folder with some paper in it on the desk, kissed his wife, and while hugging her, looked at his son as Stefan cocked his head while holding up what appeared to be a shirt, but looked longer than normal. "He's cute", he whispered in her ear, "If the transformation takes, I've got a signed contract for him to work for Clause Enterprises for a full year on one of the assembly lines. They promise he'll love it, and hardly notice the time go by; we can inspect the premises any time. Our cut is $150,000.00, and while Clause's representative told me they don't use any sort of drugging, they do use something that makes sure Stefan won't have changed one bit when we pick him up."
As Stefan pulled on his new tunic, he looked for his shoes as his Dad clapped his hands and with a smile, called for Stefan to "Hurry up, buddy, let's get ready for that walk! Let's go buy you a pair of boots downstairs at the shop, and we'll get you a coat for outside too."
Stefan shrugged and still feeling rather shy about his new clothes, and the fact he was just padding down the hall in socked feet like a little kid even though he was eleven, went to the elevators with his parents.