story9764.xml

story9764.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-09-11

It was only my 4th day of school. I had started on Friday, and because I went to a private high school, we had a half day of classes on Saturday. Monday rolled around, and then Tuesday. I was really excited about my Tuesday schedule -- being a senior, I finally had some scheduling privliges, and therefore I only had two classes that day. The first one was from 8 to 9, and the second from 10-11. I remember putting on new black pants and a sleeveless white blouse, and then being pissed that I had to put on my blazer because it was going to be so warm out.
My first class passed uneventfully. It was Senior Seminar, where you read great historical works and discussed them in the context of your life. We went over the syllabus and mused our feelings on what our senior year of high school would be like. I'm sure that I wasn't even looking at the clock when 8:46 came and went.
After class, my friend Jeff and I walked towards the library building. Our friend Phil came bursting out the doors, yelling excitedly that a bomb had gone off in the Pentagon. Jeff and I kind of blew him off -- Phil tends to exaggerate things. We went into the library and grabbed a table so we could do some homework. At around 10, I left the library to go to my second class of the day, European History.
The wing of the building that I was going to had a glass door that you had to enter through. As I walked in to the hall, I saw a huge group of people crowded around a television set that someone had dragged over from the AV room. I stood silently for a moment, completely shocked as I watched the images again and again of the planes slamming into the towers, of people falling to the street, of the chaos and destruction that reigned in lower Manhattan. I walked into the classroom in shock and set my books down. It was a really small class, there were only nine of us. I walked up to my friend Crystal who was talking to two guys we knew, Eric and Cal. Cal was repeating what I had just seen: two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center and another one into the Pentagon. I stood for a minute, listening to him talk, when suddenly I remembered something. My mom was in New York.
She had gone to visit my grandmother, who was in the hospital recovering from hip surgery. But suddenly I couldn't remember all the details. Where was the hospital? Was she going anywhere else in New York? What if she had decided to walk around Manhattan on such a gorgeous September day?
I walked quickly out of the room and went over to the Dean's office, where I asked Mrs. Manoli, the secretary, if I could use my phone to try to call my mom. Mrs. Manoli handed me the phone, and I tried my mom's cell phone. A message came up telling me that the number was out of service. Same when I tried my uncle's house, where I knew my mom was staying. Apparently Great Neck wasn't getting any phone service.
I left her office, slowly starting to panic. By the time I was back in the classroom, I was in tears. Dr. Robinson had told everyone that class was cancelled while I had been gone, and Crystal grabbed my arm and steered me outside. I was trying to restrain myself from losing composure in front of my classmates as I told Crystal what was going on. She handed me her cell phone and told me to try again. I still couldn't get through.
We sat on a bench under a tree while Crystal called her mom at home to tell her that she was ok. I looked around and saw small groups of people huddled together, crying and hugging. One of our teachers came outside, asking around if anyone had family in New York. My high school was partially a boarding school, with about 2/3 of the students living in dorms and the rest communting. The faculty was trying to locate all of the students from the New York area. I saw a teacher trying to calm down a guy who was screaming that his whole family worked in the World Trade Center.
Crystal and I were still sitting outside when a few more of my friends joined us. My friend Jason had been one of the last people on the internet in the library before it went down from overuse, and he had printed off a news bulletin about what was going on and made copies. I started reading one and began to cry again. My friend Ben started hugging me and we just stood there until people began pouring out of the buildings, spreading the word that the school had called an emergency meeting in the chapel for everyone.
As we all sat in the pews, people were crying hysterically. One of my friends had brought me a Diet Coke, and I sat, sipping it, trying to be in physical contact with as many people as possible. It seemed like everyone was touching hands, grabbing arms, holding each other -- just trying to confirm that we were all here. Our dean stood up front and summarized what we all already knew. He warned us not to watch tv if the images were going to upset us. He explained that classes were still going to be held, mainly so the school could keep track of people. He also told us that if we heard someone continuously ringing a bell from the tower that we were all to report immidiately to the chapel. He then encouraged us to go to lunch and try to stick together.
My friends and I walked over to the dining hall, although none of us felt like eating. We just sat a table in silence, trying not to cry too much. Finally, we ended up going over to a dorm so we could watch tv. My friend Elysabethe and I went on a walk together: her friend Brian worked in the North Tower.
When I went home that afternoon to change before tennis practice, my dad was there. He confirmed to me that my mom was ok, although all of my relatives were staying at my uncles house for the time being. My dad and I didn't hug -- our family just isn't like that. I changed my clothes and went to tennis practice, where we didn't play any tennis at all. I just sat there and tried to comprehend what had happened. Two years later, I still have no idea.