12:00 noon
Now Alex knew.
That’s what Jordan and his goons were talking about when they asked, “You don’t know?” That’s why everyone got sent home early from school. That’s why the people on the bus looked worried, and why his mother was stuck at work, and why he was supposed to bring Nunu straight home, and why all his friends had been told to leave the TV off. All those weird moments that had been bugging him since second period suddenly made sense. It was like a Rubik’s cube, where everything seems like a total jumble until all the pieces slide into place at once.
For a split-second, he understood.
Then a flood of new questions filled his head. Who did it? Why did they do it? How could those huge towers just collapse? Did anyone die? How many? Now that he knew, he wanted to know more.
He thought of his father, driving a train straight to the World Trade Center.
A new question shoved all the others aside.
Would his dad be coming home?