Ten years ago… in the year 2041…
A week had passed since Blair started her Freshman year in college, attending Metro Carolina State University after graduating from high school. During her last few months of Senior year in high school, she decided she wanted to be an Air Force fighter-pilot and enrolled in Air Force ROTC at MC State, instead of going through with her original plan of becoming a computer programmer in the College of Engineering. After having been given her parents' blessing, she changed her intended major to Political Science in the College of Humanities, also signing up to be a cadet in the college's AFROTC program, Detachment 959.
"Five minutes until the class starts; I can make it!" said Blair to herself as she hurried across campus to get to her first ROTC class of the semester. She underestimated the amount of time it took to get lunch and was running late. She traversed through various side paths and tunnels along the way to her next class, finally arriving at her destination with a couple of minutes to spare. As she approached the classroom, she slowed to a brisk walk in order to catch her breath, straightening out her hair and clothes to look more professional. Her hair was shoulder-length and flowed freely instead of styled in her usual ponytail. Unfortunately, there were still large traces of bright-orange highlights present in her hair, a remnant of her high school days. She didn't have a uniform yet or any other piece of Air Force-issued clothing; instead, she was dressed in business-casual civilian attire, consisting of khaki pants and a plain red polo.
At the entrance to the classroom, there was a fellow classmate standing in the doorway, looking down the hall towards the cadre office. Blair found it odd but greeted him with a friendly smile anyway as she entered, glancing around the room at the others present. Fortunately for her, the instructor wasn't there, so she had some time to prepare for class. There was another girl there, one she recognized from orientation a few days prior. As she made her way to an empty seat at the front of the room next to her, she noticed that everyone had their polo shirts tucked in and wore a belt, unlike her. Not wanting to feel out of place, she at least tucked in her shirt before sitting down next to the only other girl in the room.
"Good afternoon, Cadet Casing."
Blair turned to the sociable girl sitting next to her after setting down her backpack. "Uh, good afternoon to you too, Cadet… Schwartz?" she said.
The girl chuckled as Blair got her name wrong. "It's Schultz. Cadet Roxanne Schultz. But you were close," she said.
"Ah. I'm Blair Casing, er- Cadet Blair Casing, I guess," said Blair.
"Pleasure to meet you, Blair," said Roxanne as she reached out for a friendly shake.
As Blair was about to shake her hand, the cadet at the door suddenly spoke out. "Standby…," he said, prompting the room to quiet down and move to the edge of their seats. Most of the cadets there knew what was about to happen, mainly from being in JROTC in high school, and prepared for the coming arrival of the instructor, which was an active duty officer of the U.S. Air Force.
Blair, on the other hand, didn't know what was going on and was confused, almost panicked as she tried to figure things out. "What's going on?" she whispered to Roxanne, but she didn't hear her.
"Room, tench-HUT!" said the cadet manning the door as he transitioned to the position of attention. Once the command was given, everyone in the room followed suit and stood at attention. Blair did her best to copy Roxanne, but her feet were positioned wrong as well as her hands. Also unlike most of the others, Blair moved her head slightly to see who it was that entered the room which was a no-no while at the position of attention.
"At ease," said the captain as he entered the room and made his way to the front.
Roxanne and the others promptly took their seats while Blair was last to sit, unsure of what to do. The captain took his place behind the front podium and took roll, making sure everyone was present and accounted for. Blair gulped, her hands somewhat shaking from not being aware of standard military customs and courtesies. The others seemed to already know most of this stuff, so she wondered how come she didn't.
The first ROTC class was pretty straightforward. The instructor, Captain Zane, passed out and went over the syllabus, hitting the main points like attendance, grading, and future assignments. He also elaborated more on the accompanying LLAB (Leadership Laboratory), which was an extension of their Air Force lessons and the more "hands-on" portion of their curriculum. Blair did her best to remember everything he said, but due to the bombardment of new information, some things may have slipped through the cracks. Her neighbor, however, was constantly taking notes on the syllabus she was given. Perhaps if Blair missed anything, she could ask Roxanne instead of the instructor himself out of embarrassment.
When the class was over, the room was called to attention again by the same cadet as before. Captain Zane put them at ease and stayed behind to answer any questions the cadets might have had. Before leaving, Blair had something she had to take care of, something concerning a fellow classmate of hers. After collecting her things, she followed Roxanne out of the classroom.
"Hey, uh... Cadet Schultz. Got a minute?" asked Blair as she came up beside her.
Roxanne kept moving and glanced to her side, seeing Blair walking alongside her. "Oh, sure. And you can call me Roxanne when we're not doing any official ROTC business," she said.
"Yeah okay. So…" said Blair as she gathered her words, swallowing her pride as she attempted to ask for help.
"Hmm?" asked Roxanne, tilting her head slightly with slight smile on her face.
Blair let out a sigh and finally got it over with. "Look. You seem like a smart gal, knowing all about standing at attention and all that…," she said.
"Yeah. So?" asked Roxanne, still focused on Blair.
"Well, I… sorta… don't know any of that. So I was wondering if you'd, I don't know- help bring me up to speed?" asked Blair with a nervous smile.
Roxanne hummed softly, still with an amused expression on her face. "Sure. I'd be happy to help out a fellow cadet. When would you like to meet up?" she asked.
Blair relaxed, seeing that Roxanne was so willing to help out a newbie. "When's your last class?" she asked.
"I'm heading there now. It ends at sixteen hundred hours," said Roxanne.
"…sixteen hundred hours?" asked Blair, cocking her head to the side in confusion.
"That's 4:00 P.M. in military time," said Roxanne with a chuckle.
Blair frowned, dismayed and disappointed at herself for not knowing that. "You see? I need all the help I can get," she said.
Roxanne took a turn and exited the building, followed closely by Blair right after her. "Don't worry, Blair. After today with me, you'll be caught up in no time," said Roxanne.
Blair gave a nod. "All right then. I look forward to it. I get off at four forty-five, so maybe we can grab dinner together and start once we're done? I mean, if you don't have any plans later," she said.
"Sure. We can talk during dinner, then afterwards, we'll head to one of the lounges at my dorm," said Roxanne.
"Cool. Give me your number and I'll give you a call once I'm done," said Blair as she pulled out her phone.
Roxanne took out her phone as well and exchanged it with Blair. "Just input your contact information, like your phone and email. I'll do the same on yours," she said.
Blair complied and added her cellphone number and email address into Roxanne's phone. Afterwards, they exchanged phones again and went their separate ways, heading off to their last class of the day.
#
After her last class, Blair whipped out her phone as she walked along and gave her new acquaintance, Roxanne, a call.
"Hello?" asked Roxanne, answering her phone.
"It's me. Blair. I'm done with my classes for the day. Where do you want to meet up?" asked Blair as she walked along through the campus.
Roxanne was hanging out, working on her studies when Blair called. "Hmm… where are you? I'm in the library at the moment," she said.
Blair looked around for a landmark to give her, not quite familiar with the campus' layout yet. "Uh, I'm just passing Allen Hall. I'm headed towards the Brickyard now," she said.
"Oh, cool. The Atrium is right next door to me. Wanna pick up something there?" asked Roxanne.
"The Atrium? Umm… what do they have there again? I've been there once, only briefly though," said Blair.
"Well, they have a wide variety. You can get sandwiches, pizza, pasta, salads and subs. They even have Chinese and sushi there. Take your pick," said Roxanne while packing up her things.
Blair thought the choices over, trying to decide on what she wanted. "That's a lot more than I remember. Sure. We can eat there. I'm headed there now," she said, changing her course for the Atrium.
Roxanne acknowledged and hung up before she finished gathering her school work.
The weather outside was still hot and humid, typical of the summer months; Blair particularly didn't favor the sticky, scorching summer weather, but instead liked the brisk, chilly weather of winter. It didn't help that she was in North Carolina where the weather was bipolar and not consistent like where she grew up. As she trudged along through the campus, she couldn't help but feel a tad bit uncomfortable, especially since she was walking around under the heat of the sun in khakis and a polo shirt tucked into her pants. Finally making it to the Brickyard, the wide open brick courtyard in front of the library, she wiped her brow and panted as the Atrium came into view. The area was bustling with activity as students walked all about, heading to and from the library, Atrium, and other parts of campus. When she arrived at the Atrium, she spotted Roxanne waiting outside in the shade under an overhang.
Blair waved at her and Roxanne did the same. "Sup," said Blair as she made her way over to her.
"Nothing much. I was just getting some homework done," said Roxanne as she proceeded inside with Blair.
The lunchtime rush had died down and it wasn't as crowded as it normally was. The two of them headed passed the registers and towards the food court where all the vendors were. Roxanne opted to get a personal-pan veggie pizza from the Italian section, whereas Blair decided to grab some sesame chicken and fried rice from the Asian section. After paying for their meals using the meal plan tied to their school ID cards, they found a table to themselves and began digging in.
"So, how's the college life been so far?" asked Roxanne.
"Hmm?" said Blair, her mouth full of chicken and rice as she looked up at Roxanne.
"I mean, how are you adjusting to being both an Air Force cadet and college student? It can't be all you expected, having all these regulations and such about what you can and can't do," said Roxanne.
Blair swallowed her food and shrugged, taking a drink from her bottled water. "Eh, it's not too bad. Haven't had any trouble so far when it comes to maintaining a cadet-like appearance while in the college environment. I've done whatever I wanted whenever I felt like it without it interfering. The only thing that's really been different is me having to cut my hair, but other than that, I haven't noticed. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, um. No reason in particular. I just wasn't sure if you knew what you were getting into when you signed up for ROTC," said Roxanne, not realizing the potential starkness of her words.
Blair furrowed her brow. "What are you getting at?" she asked, her voice harsh and accusing in tone.
Seeing Blair's expression and recalling her own words, Roxanne raised her hands and motioned that she didn't mean anything by it. "Ah! I didn't mean to offend you! It's just, you know. You kinda seem out of place in all this," she said. Immediately after saying that, she gestured with her hands again as she realized what she had just said. "I mean not like that! I'm not insulting how you look or anything. You just seem…" Roxanne paused to carefully phrase her next words. "...uncomfortable."
As Blair watched Roxanne become flustered before her, she couldn't help but crack a slight smile. "I'm just messin' with ya. I know what you meant," said Blair. Leaning over, she gave Roxanne a pat on the shoulder from across the table then sat back down in her seat. "And I'll have you know that my dad was a former Navy fighter-pilot, so I'm not completely out of touch with the military world."
Roxanne exhaled loudly, relieved she didn't upset Blair with her poor choice of words. "That's good. I thought I had already gotten on your bad side," she said before taking a drink. "Your dad was a Navy pilot?" she asked, intrigued to learn more about Blair's background.
"Yeah. He retired as a commander and was stationed on aircraft carriers, flying the F-35C on his sorties," said Blair.
"Is he the reason you wanted to join up? How come you didn't do Navy ROTC?" asked Roxanne.
"Well, yes and no. After he left the service, he took up a job as a commercial airline pilot. He also does a lot of flying recreationally, so we've had a lot of time in the air already," said Blair.
"…we?" asked Roxanne, raising an eyebrow.
Blair had a smug look on her face as she got to boast a bit about herself. "Yeah. I'm a certified pilot already. I've been flying prop planes for quite a while now. I've even been in the backseat of some Navy jets too," she said.
"Wow, that's pretty cool. I think some of the other cadets are pilots as well," said Roxanne, tapping her chin as she tried to recall her fellow classmates.
"Mmmhmm. At first, I had no intention of joining the military after high school. Instead, I was set on becoming a computer programmer and get into game design. But… I hate math. I HATE math so much, and when I found out there would be a lot of that in college under my degree plan, I started rethinking my career path," said Blair, scoffing at the very notion of doing more mathematics.
"Well, math isn't totally out of the picture. I'm sure every major has some sort of math requirement," said Roxanne.
Blair let out a big groan as she rubbed her forehead with her palms. "I know. Don't remind me," she said, sneering at the fact that she still had a few math courses left to do. "But anyway, since I love flying, and have no qualms about killing people that deserve it, I chose to do ROTC. And I chose the Air Force since it is after all where the country's best and brightest are. Well, no offense to the Navy, Dad."
Roxanne chuckled a bit at that, fascinated by her frank reasoning. "I see. That's… an interesting way of putting it," she said.
"Yeah, well. I figured I'd have a better chance of becoming a pilot in the Air Force rather than any other service," said Blair.
"And your dad is okay with that?" asked Roxanne.
"At first, he kinda wished I joined the Navy like him. But I'd rather not be restrained to the boring confines of a seafaring carrier. He's just happy that I'm happy. That's basically how things go at my household," said Blair.
"Nice, I guess. I've always wanted to be a pilot. I actually wish I could be a fighter-pilot," said Roxanne, sighing as she picked at one of her pizza slices.
"Hmm? Is there something wrong with you, I mean, health-wise?" asked Blair.
Roxanne looked up and shook her head. "Nope. I'm as healthy as an ox," she said.
"Then why don't you try to get a pilot slot like me?" asked Blair.
Roxanne glanced away, faintly disheartened. "It's… not that easy. You see, my parents are both officers in the Air Force. While I can't say what they do exactly, I'll just say they deal with a lot of high-end, classified stuff. Ever since I was born, they've been grooming me to become an intel officer like them, putting me in the 'best' schools, making me do extracurricular stuff, etc. So I kinda owe it to them to follow in their footsteps since they've given me so much, you know?" she said.
"Pfft, so it's that kind of family life, huh? You got those stiff, uptight parents who are always on about straight A's and proper etiquette. Where's the fun in that?" asked Blair.
Roxanne huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "We have fun… sometimes…" she said.
"Like what? Going to see classical concerts, watching ballets, and visiting museums?" said Blair with a smirk.
Shocked, Roxanne pouted, her arms still crossed in defiance. "…I kinda like listening to live classical music…" she said.
As soon as she heard that she was spot on, Blair couldn't help but let out a laugh or two. "Oh man, Roxanne! You mean to tell me you've never been to an amusement park? Watched movies in the theater? Or done anything else like that?" she asked.
Roxanne remained silent, diverting her gaze away from Blair.
"Well then. We're going to have to fix that now, won't we? You're in college now, and since I've had plenty of experience having real fun, I'll show you a good time whenever we have days off or something. It's the least I can do for agreeing to help me catch up on all this ROTC stuff, right?" said Blair.
After finishing off her iced tea, Roxanne looked to Blair and gave a smile. "I'd like that, so long as I don't have any homework, tests, or projects on my plate," she said.
"Hmph. All right, Ms. Workaholic. But you know what they say: all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," said Blair, giving her a wink.
"Sure sure. Now let's get back on track. Do you know anything about Air Force ROTC?" asked Roxanne.
Blair took a moment to think the question over, looking up as she tapped her chin with a finger. "Uh… we got planes… and bombers. I know the officer's rank structure and-"
"I mean ROTC related stuff. Do you know anything, and I mean anything about being a cadet?" asked Roxanne.
"Oh. Well, other than what was covered today and during orientation, not much," said Blair with a sheepish smile.
Roxanne let out a tired sigh, massaging her temples with her hands. "At least we know where to start," she said.
Before Roxanne could continue, a fellow cadet stopped by to see how they were doing. "Good afternoon, cadets," he said as he approached their table.
Roxanne's ears twitched as she turned to see who it was; it was a POC-level cadet, meaning he had finished Field Training and had attained a cadet officer rank. Only Juniors and Seniors were part of the POC-corps so it meant he was an upperclassman. She couldn't remember his exact rank and class, but she did know he was a POC at least. "Good afternoon, sir!" she said.
Seeing the older guy standing at their table interrupting their conversation, Blair placed an elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand, giving him a sneer. "And what do you want, buddy-boy? Trying to pass the time by hitting on some hot chicks sitting all alone?" she asked, completely unaware of his standing as a POC-cadet.
The cadet glared at Blair then turned to Roxanne who was shocked by Blair's disrespectfulness towards the senior cadet. "It's Day 1 and you're already starting off on the wrong foot, huh," he said, shaking his head.
"Blair! This is one of the POC cadets! Mind your manners!" said Roxanne, meeting Blair's eyes with a harsh look. She then turned back to the cadet and apologized on her behalf. "Excuse my friend here. She's still wet behind the ears and has no idea what she's doing. I'm going to help her catch up on proper etiquette, so this will never happen again, sir."
Blair gulped and quickly apologized as well. "Oh! Um, I'm sorry. I- I didn't know you were a cadet also," she said as she started to sweat from embarrassment.
The cadet was in regular civilian attire and not in uniform or business casual like Blair and Roxanne were. He shook his head once more but remained professional, not letting Blair's comment get to him. "I'll let it slide just this once, cadet. But from now on, you better be on your best behavior, both in and out of the classroom. You represent more than just yourself now. You're an image of the Air Force and I expect you both to reflect that in your everyday lives," he said. He sighed then lightened his demeanor with a smile. "I just came by to see how you two were doing and if you had any questions so far."
Roxanne relaxed, easing up in front of the higher ranking cadet. "Oh. In that case, we're doing fine, sir. If either I or Cadet Casing here has something come up, we'll let one of the POC or one of the cadre know," she said.
The cadet nodded and put his hands in his pockets. "I'm Cadet McCloud, by the way. So if there isn't anything you wanted to ask, I'll leave you two alone," he said.
As he left, Blair kept her eyes on him until he was far out of earshot. She sighed with relief and looked to Roxanne across the table. "So… I'm your friend?" she asked.
Roxanne also sighed then glanced over at Blair. "Huh?" she said, confused as to what she meant.
"You said 'my friend here' to him. So we're officially friends?" asked Blair.
"Of course we are. We are cadets after all," said Roxanne with a smile. "Unless you don't want to…"
"No, I mean. It's cool that we can be friends. I'm from out of state, so I could use a good friend," said Blair with an uneasy smile.
"I'd love to be your friend. I live just half an hour away, so I can show you around whenever you like," said Roxanne.
"Uh huh. That'd be awesome," said Blair.
There was a short period of silence as the two finished up their meals. Suddenly, Roxanne decided to break the stillness. "So… you think I'm a hot chick?" she asked with a wily smirk.
Blair looked up at her and blushed, then turned away as her cheeks continued to redden. "I- I have no idea what you're talking about," she said.
Roxanne continued to smirk then got up, picking up her bag. "I'm just teasing. I know what you meant when you were talking to Cadet McCloud earlier," she said. She then proceeded to clean up her area as did Blair before leaving the Atrium.
As they walked back to Roxanne's dorm, she went over some common knowledge that every cadet should know, things like: proper classroom procedures, when and whom to salute, etc. When they arrived, Roxanne led Blair to one of the study lounges on the basement floor of her building. They found a room that wasn't being used and set up shop, claiming it as their own. Once they were situated in, Roxanne continued to go over the basics. Blair remained attentive throughout the session, taking in every bit of information Roxanne told her. After going over the theoretical and rote memorization aspects of AFROTC, she moved on to the more physical aspects of being an Air Force cadet.
"Any questions so far about what we covered?" asked Roxanne as she sat in the seat next to Blair.
Blair leaned back in her chair, going over everything in her head. "Let's see. Salute only active duty officers -doesn't matter what branch- and POC -only Air Force- when outside and inside only when reporting in to the cadre. Um, when an officer enters the room or area, the first cadet to notice them calls the room to attention. We address officers as 'sir' or 'ma'am' but we can also call NCOs that as well. I think I've got it so far," she said, smug with the retention of information from her lessons.
"Good. Now we're going to move on to standing at attention and basic facing movements," said Roxanne as she stood up. She moved to an open area of the room and waited for Blair.
"Facing movements?" asked Blair as she got up and followed her.
"Yes. Static drill is what's next on our agenda. First, let's see you standing at attention. So…" said Roxanne. She then stood at attention and inhaled deeply, taking the role of a POC and practicing her command voice. "Room! Tench-HUT!"
Hearing the command, Blair shuddered as she was slightly startled and tried her best to imitate the position from earlier. She stood with her feet together and her arms at her side, keeping her chin up and looking ahead.
After giving her command, Roxanne loosened up and began inspecting Blair's form. "Hmm… get your feet spread apart; they should be at a forty-five degree angle. And your hands- Unlock your eyes," said Roxanne as she stood in front of Blair.
"Unlock my eyes?" asked Blair.
"That's the command, per se, to allow a cadet to look around freely while at the position of attention. When at attention, your head should be locked in place and your eyes should be looking ahead, just above 'the horizon'. So when I say 'unlock your eyes', I want you to look at what I'm doing so you can see how to properly do it," said Roxanne.
"Okay," said Blair as she remained still, only moving her head to see what Roxanne was doing.
"Look, your hands are in the kind of fist like you're about to punch someone. They should look more like this, like you're holding a roll of quarters. See?" said Roxanne as she demonstrated the correct way to keep her hands while at attention. Blair copied what she was doing and got her hands looking proper, returning them to her sides. "Good. Now look down and fix your feet. Like this," said Roxanne as she moved on to proper foot placement.
"Um, okay…," said Blair as she corrected her feet. Once she had that down as well as her hands, she passed the "standing at attention" portion of the lesson.
"Good. Very good. You're looking more like a proper cadet now. While we're on the topic of standing at attention, let's go over the proper salute, which can only be done while standing at attention, okay?" said Roxanne as she put Blair at ease, meaning she didn't have to be standing at attention anymore.
After getting permission to stand at ease, Blair loosened up and stood freely. "If you say so. So the salute, huh? How hard can it be?" she asked.
Roxanne frowned a bit, standing back from Blair so she could get a better view. "It's a lot harder than it looks. Most new cadets think they know how to salute, but when they do it for the first time, they unconsciously do one thing or another to screw it up. So watch carefully," she said before standing at attention and rendering a firm, crisp salute.
Seeing Roxanne look so serious and professional, Blair chuckled, putting her hands in her pockets with a smirk. "Well done. I can do that," she said.
"Are you taking note of the way my hand looks? Keep your hand in line with your arm. Keep the wrist straight and hide that thumb. I shouldn't be able to see the thumb if you're doing it properly. Also, angle your hand down a bit like so and if you don't have glasses, the tip of your finger should go here. If you do have glasses, it goes to the corner of the frame. And if you have an cover on, it goes to the edge of the brim. Got all that?" asked Roxanne, still demonstrating the salute while at attention.
"Yeah yeah, I think I can handle it," said Blair, eager to do a salute.
"All right. Let's see what you can do. Room, tench-HUT!" said Roxanne after lowering her salute. Once Blair was at attention, she followed through with the next command. "Pre-sent HARMS!" At that instance, Blair rendered a salute, though it wasn't as spectacular as she had thought. "You see? I knew there would be something wrong. Your hand, keep it straight," said Roxanne as she got a closer look at Blair's salute.
"What? It is straight," said Blair as she almost broke her bearing to look at her hand.
"No… here. Permission to touch?" asked Roxanne.
Blair huffed and almost let out a laugh. "Excuse me?" she asked.
Roxanne sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm trying to show you the correct way to have your hand, and to do that, I need to position your hand physically, meaning I have to touch you. When a cadet needs to touch another, despite the gender and reason, they have to ask permission just like I did. So again, I ask, permission to touch?" she said.
"Yeah, sure. Just keep it clean, will ya?" said Blair with a chuckle.
"Urgh, so crude. That's highly inappropriate," said Roxanne as she took Blair's hand in hers.
As soon as Blair felt Roxanne's hands, she unexpectedly twitched slightly with delight. Her hands were warm and soft, her touch delicate and tender. Blair smiled at her touch but kept the enjoyment to herself, quickly recovering her bearing.
Once Blair's hand was fixed, Roxanne moved back. "There. Feel that? That's how your hand should be. Now do it again from the beginning," she said.
For the rest of the evening, Blair and Roxanne practiced saluting and other static drill movements. When it started getting late, they decided to call it a night.
"We'll call it quits for now. Don't want to overload your brain now, do we?" said Roxanne with a smile.
"Yeah. We covered a lot tonight. I hope I can remember it all," said Blair as she stretched her arms into the air.
"Just keep practicing and you'll get it down in no time. I'm sure we'll have plenty of practice in class or LLAB," said Roxanne.
"Mmmhmm. So, I guess I'll be going then if that's all for now," said Blair as she picked up her backpack.
Roxanne began fixing the chairs as they prepared to depart. "Where're you headed?" she asked, grabbing her bag as well.
"I live in Wood, down in the middle of nowhere," said Blair.
"Wood, huh? That's not too terribly far from the Honors Village," said Roxanne.
"Yeah. I'll be fine," said Blair as she started for the door. "Thanks again for helping me out."
"No problem. If you need anything else, just let me know," said Roxanne, giving her a friendly smile.
Blair gave her a nod, smiling as well as she left the room and headed back to her dorm. While she was walking home, she smiled to herself, remembering how it felt when Roxanne touched her hand.