A hush fell over East Ridge High School on Wednesday as students grappled with the sudden death of their 17-year-old classmate the day before.
There were plenty of tears as some students carried with them pictures of senior Shanecia Kelly, and others spent time in the library, talking to an army of school counselors.
"We didn't really do much work today. It don't seem like it's true," said 14-year-old Kiara Walker, Kelly's cousin.
Kelly, a member of the school color guard and the chorus, was described as outgoing and caring by fellow students.
She died Tuesday after collapsing during a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the school.
Freshman Brandon Whitley, a fellow JROTC cadet, said he was on the practice field when Kelly collapsed. The girl was choking and, at one point, someone pulled something out of her mouth, he said.
"It looked like electrical tape or a straw that she'd been chewing on," he said.
There is not yet an official cause of death, according to officials with the Hamilton County Medical Examiner's Office. Pathology results are expected in the next several weeks.
Erik Hopkins, spokesman for the East Ridge Police Department, said there is no suspicion of foul play and, unless lab results show otherwise, the police will not investigate.
Col. Paul Christopher, senior Army instructor for the school's JROTC, said Kelly, a member of JROTC since her freshman year, was "very athletic, very supportive, very nice."
"She was a great, great, great person," he said. "Everybody loved her."
April Gutierrez, a friend of Kelly's who graduated from East Ridge High in May, said the girl also was an asthmatic who occasionally would have attacks when training for school's Raider team, an elite athletics-focused branch of the JROTC program.
"I have asthma, too. ... We taught her how to run and take breaths," said Gutierrez, 19.
East Ridge principal Zac Brown said he'd expressed his condolences Wednesday to Kelly's parents, who were out of the country at the time of her death.
"The last 36 hours have been pretty rough for East Ridge," he said. "We're having school, but we've cried with [students], hugged them, loved them. We got the emotions out today. We just have to take it one day at a time."
Online: Read previous stories. Follow Kelli Gauthier on Twitter at twitter.com/gauthierkelli.