Massie Block woke up from her nightmare with cold sweat rolling down her back. It's just a nightmare. She tried to convince herself. Only it wasn't. No, because today was September eleventh. Today was the day that her perfect family was brutally torn apart. Today was the day her mother never made it home.
Massie tried to get dressed in the best outfit she could find in her massive walk-in closet. A juicy couture black denim mini skirt, a red Ralph Lauren tube top, and a white Betsey Johnson vest. She slipped her French-manicured feet into a pair of black ballet flats, from Manolo Blahnik, grabbed her Coach handbag, and walked down the winding staircase like any other day. Or at least that's what she tried to convince herself. But if you looked closely you could see her shaking fingers as she grabbed the kitchen door handle. She walked to the kitchen counter, and grabbed two Chocolate Nutz Luna bars, and a glass of milk out of the fridge, all while trying to avoid the glances at her from Inez, and Isaac as she ate.
"I'm ready, Isaac." She said practicing her strong voice. She was afraid that she would need it. He looked up from the comics section of the paper and grabbed the Range Rover keys.
"Let's go." He said, quickly averting her gaze. She walked ahead of the sympathy filled driver. Claire was already out waiting by the wet from the morning rain SUV. Out of all of her friends Claire was the only one who really knew what today was.
"Oh wow Claire. You actually look good today." Massie said trying to sound like her normal self. Claire chuckled, stuck her tongue out and said, "Thanks, so do you." Claire was dressed in a light wash mini skirt, a black tank top with an American flag pinned on it. On her feet were black converse high-tops.
"You ready?" She asked.
"As I'll ever be." Massie said a little begrudgingly.
'Don't worry. You look very aplomb."
"New vocab word?" She questioned. Claire giggled.
"How'd you guess?"
"I'm in your English class." Massie said obviously as they got into the car, and put their seatbelts on. When they picked up Alicia, Kristen, and Dylan, she was barely aware of anything but what she was telling herself. You are the alpha. You are the strong one. You will not cry. She chanted over and over again inside her head. They arrived at BOCD and Massie immediately saw a large cloth flag covering the side or the brick wall. She watched as it floated with the slight wind, and felt tears threatening to fasten their seatbelts and take off. Claire suddenly noticed the flag, and moved the group along quickly. She kept on chanting the mantra inside her head. Alphas do not cry. Strong people do not cry. They all walked to their lockers so as not to be late to first period. Massie, and Claire had the first class together. Algebra. They walked into the classroom and the overhead wasn't displaying the normal equation as a bell-ringer. No, instead it was a picture. A picture of the planes crashing into the twin towers. That was when the grief stricken alpha lost it. She dropped her books and ran swiftly down the hall and to the bathroom. She ran into the first open stall and waited to hear the door swing shut, but it didn't make a sound. No, instead of a whoosh of air, she heard rubber soles of Converse sneakers on the linoleum. Claire.
"Ya know Massie," She said as she slid under the locked bathroom stall, and stood up. "Strong people aren't afraid to cry." She enveloped her into a bone-crushing hug as a sob erupted from her best friend's body. And the alpha did the strong thing. She cried.