I know this is a little late -
I was checking into school my junior year of high school. I walked into my 1st period Journalism class, and they were all glued to the TV. All that was known is two planes had hit the towers. My teacher was one of the most mild mannered ladies you'd ever meet, and she was saying, "I just don't think this was an accident."
I asked my friend John (recruited by Auburn, Alabama, and Clemson, but he decided to do the military thing) what was going on, and he looked at me red faced and said, "We're going to fucking war!"
It didn't really hit me until they started reporting the Pentagon site and the Pennsylvania site. Then the towers collapsed.
All we did in school that day was watch TV. After school, I went to my church which was having a prayer service. I left early because an "elder" spoke and said, "let's not make any irrational decisions on how to react to this. Fighting back will only lead to this happening again." I disagreed and left. Sat in line at a gas station for 45 minutes. Went home. Watched TV until 3am.
We still played football that Friday. I've never considered myself a true patriot as I've never had an inkling to serve in the military. However, when our coach gave us the pregame speech about how our country was turned upside down and everything else entertainment wise was cancelled, I got tears. Not to be corny, but high school football in Alabama was the only thing going on to keep people's mind off of terrorism.