Survival Of The Fittest

So, hey.

If you’re reading this right now, you probably know who I am. If you don’t, well, I don’t know how you got ahold of this account, considering it’s private, but fine. Maybe you’re one of those moms in church (praise the Lord), maybe you're one of those underclassmen I say hi to, sometimes, but it's cool. Not that all has happened has been cool, of course, but it's okay for you to be reading this. Going through this, every word and every line, wondering why this girl thinks she has the temerity to go through and post this. Why she has the right to do so, when so many others remain stuck in limbo, fates uncertain and locations unfound.

I get that, I really do. That maybe, I should stay quiet, keep my mouth shut like a trap and never say anything ever again. I've been told that ever since the fifth grade, so don’t feel like you’re alone there. Part of me does want that. It’d be easier, certainly. To weep, to cry, to let everything stand still as if the world will stop around me. As Keisha Higgins-Bell, one of the few members of the George Hunter Batch of 2018 not currently missing, that makes sense.

As Keisha Higgins-Bell, a friend, a classmate, and as one person charitably described me, “a nosy bitch who can’t keep her mouth shut”, I think that I have the right to say something. I think that I have the need to say something, now, before my friends and my classmates’ stories are left to scatter to the wind, tragedy blanketing out what they made happen, rather than what happened to them.

I’m sure all of you have seen the Lorentech Press Conference. At least, read about it, saw a headline about it, maybe even a 10-second snap about it. Rich white people be kind of crazy, yes, but that’s something we all knew before this, right?

Anyways, despite how disgusting the remarks made by Mr. Lorenzen were yesterday, he does bring to light one harsh truth: that something has happened to all of these kids, and it certainly isn’t something good. Perhaps it is SOTF, perhaps it isn’t, but in any case, we can’t let what is happening, or has happened to them, overshadow who they are.

Classmates. Teammates. Friends. Lovers. Siblings.

They aren’t just martyrs and victims, they’re people, and all of you should know that as well as the palm of your hand. Maybe you only know them from your clubs, or a wave in the hallway, or a passing glance in the party. Maybe they’re just acquaintances, nothing more. But for some of you, myself included, they’re your loved ones. Even your children, your babies, your grandkids, your anything, really. All that matters is you know who they are, or at least some piece of their identity, and you know that over whatever has happened, the highest highs and the lowest lows.

So, please, help me bring their stories out to light. Everything from the first time that they walked, rode a bike, or got a prize at a competition. Anything from their panicked preparations at prom, to their very first day of high school. It can be big, it can be small, really, because what matters is that we have something to hold on to, and something for the world to see that Chattanooga stands wounded, yes, but that Chattanooga will stand strong, in the face of everything. That we, as a community, can make it.

I know this is a lot to ask, but I only ask it because I believe that no matter what happens, we must be able to hold onto some of the good. Hold onto it like grains of sand slipping through our fingertips, hands clenched tightly to all we have. I'm not asking for sentimentalism. I'm not asking for blind mourning before any constructive efforts to actually find everyone and bring them home where they belong- just for us to gather together, and know that from our past, we can hopefully find a way forward for our future.

I don't want to be in this situation any more than you have, and to be honest, I was pretty stupid to end up safe here. Unlike a lot of the other people here, I wasn't sick, I didn't decide to go to DC out of some ideological stand or desire for independence. I was grounded. I was stuck, right here, left to fume and think about the fact that I screwed up, that my right to go on the grand senior trip had been ripped away from me. Instead of it serving as a punishment, I was someone spared, left to pick up the pieces of what everyone else has left behind. Now, I'm not gonna even say I succeeded in that, but with your help, I can at least try to make a bad situation just a little bit brighter, just a little bit better.

Maya Angelou once said that the greatest pain one can hold is that of an untold story. Maybe these stories aren't of ourselves, but if they're the ones that we love, then I believe it is only through sharing them with the entire world that we can ever be able to let go the baggage, and put our best foot forward. This is just one voice speaking out, lost in a sea of faceless masses, but please, if you'd like to help me with this project, contact me here, or my Instagram, or at my phone number (which if you're close enough to me to know, you know already).

Thank you.

- Keisha Higgins-Bell, GH Hunting Hen Forever

Private message sent by Ophelia MacNCheese 30 minutes after the original post

hello keisha id love to help with your project. i dont think i can help much, but you can call me whenever you want at 423-XXX-XXXX. I have pictures from when me and lucas and phillip, michael and... beryl? i was on edibles when i went there so its kinda blurry. we played a board game, also I have more pictures of me and lucas from prom and stuff. I can send them to you here, but id rather meet in person.

also i have lucas's password to his google drive so ill do some snooping, to see if theres something interesting. i think ill wait until its over before i do that. i dont want him to come back and have him be like 'you snooped through my stuff becasue i was dead' you know. anyways, take care and please call me soon!!

Private message sent by Gyu-ri Christensen 45 minutes after the original post.

Wasn't it me who called you a nosy bitch? You do know I love you as much as it is possible for me to.
As it were.
I trust you with this, and I'll do my best to help.
Ivy is my best friend, and I refuse to say that in the past tense until I am absolutely sure I must.
Honestly I can reasonably doubt I am her best friend in turn but that is besides the point.
As we all well know Ivy is a polarizing figure who many in our school loathe. I also loathe her, but for entirely different reasons. I see a different side of her and I think it's worth shedding light on that.
She is a beautiful nightmare.
Same goes for Myles, though the connection is not as strong I believe I can still offer some memories. Innocent and not so.
Mackenzie only cares for me as much as she dotes on anyone else but she made a big difference in my life. Somewhat sensitive information, but I believe it fits your criterion.
Parker Green I could probably only offer the turn by turn accounts of the thirty some games of chess he lost to me consecutively. But somehow that feels an appropriate starting point.
Jonathan I...
Well we have not dated for too long. I cannot say I truly know him that well.
But somehow that makes me feel all the more qualified.
Let me know if any of this will help you out. And if you need someone to talk to in any other sense please feel free to let me know. I'll try my best.
To be clear, that's a sincere offer. I know it's not exactly in character but a lot of things have suddenly changed and I'm no exception.

[Gaelan Meloy liked this post]
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Private message sent by Ross Miller four hours and twenty-six minutes after the original post.

I'll help.
Soon.

[Chloe Ford reacted with a heart to this post.]

Private Message sent by Chloe Ford one hour after the original post.

hey, I'll see if I can get some of my sister's art and some other stuff to you. Our church closed ranks around us but I'm not really part of that right now, so this actually might really help me sorta cope with this.

Private message sent by Adrian Leblanc five hours and thirty-six minutes after the original post.

Enclosed is a link to a cloud storage file containing photos my son took of the things he got up to, and places he visited. You should find more than enough of him, and several of his close friends and so on, in there. If anything more is needed, it can be arranged.

Thank you. Let nobody tell you that what you've chosen to do is somehow wrong.

[+] Private Message from Dante Valerio two hours after the original post

hi
i have no idea if you know my brother dante at all
he left his passwords on a postit on his laptop cause hes an idiot
or was
god
sorry
this is his sister venetia
he didnt take a lot of pictures but he has some stuff
i have his prom photos
you can have those
they were secret but
doesnt matter anymore
i guess
this is all so fucked up

[+] Private Message from Zoe Alicea Feliciano the day after the original post

hi keisha im lgad ur not dead i have lots of pcitures and things ni dont know if any of its any use im not very good at photos or otehr things really either but i have lots of thigns and i want to help if theres anything i cna help with thank u for oding this tis a good idea but its going t obe hard and sad so if you need heplw ith anyhting im here im not mcuh but im here.

[+] Private Message from Artem Fyodorov three days after the original post

I would like to help.
Give me time.

Friend Request From: Gretchen Kirkpatrick

[Received 1 day, 6 hours after original post]

Private message sent by Benjamin Johnson seven hours and fifty-one minutes after the original post.

Hello keisha you are doing a Very good thing here If you neeed me i will be Very Happy to help i am a student at George Hunter Highand I was good firends with many of the kidnapied students and i was at #swuftball as wel so I have Many good stories to share pleae message me thank you for doing this and godbless

Private message sent by Tara Hart fourteen days, six hours, and thirty-two minutes after the original post:

Hello. You knew my son as Nona Hart. I did too until a few weeks ago. I've talked to some people who knew him better than I did and I think he would want a memorial account with his preferred name, Marco. I don't think he is in many school pictures, but wherever he is I believe it would mean a lot to him if you would tag any photos under that name. Thank you.

Private Message sent by Lucas Diaz ten hours and eighteen minutes after the original post.

this is Milo, Lucas' brother, I don't have a Facebook account so I logged into my brother's on ythe family computer, he left a thing with all his passwords in it behind and I know i probably shouldn't have looked at it but I did and now I'm sending this message and I hope it gets to you because I don't know how good friends you were wiyth him he didn't talk much about many people he was friends with when he was home

he wrote a lot of poetry and stuff and he never showed it to any of us while he was here and i think its really special and i dont know if you planned on having anything written included in your project but im working on putting together the best of what he wrote and sharing it somehow anyway so im wondering if youd like to see what he made. he also drew some things and i can send you some art too. his story was isnt the happiest all the time but he meanst a lot to me a nd i think he should be included if its at all possible thank you

Private Message sent by Dana Schmidt four hours and twenty three minutes after the original post

Hi
I'm Violet's sister
Don't include Violet in her project
*your
We found some stuff on her computer
I think
she's where she wants to be
and um
okay maybe put her in group shots
like thats fine
but
i really dont know how to say this but i dont know i have a very bad feeling about whats going to happen
regarding her
and what she's going to do now
what she's currently doing
because i do believe she's still kicking
and screaming
not kicking if she can help it
i havent been in kicking distance in years
my sister was a cinnamon roll
but she was a cinnamon roll with teeth inside of it
and like how are you going to deal with that?
how are you going to remember the people who make the leap?
do those people deserve the same friendliness, even if we love them?
i havent seen anything yet
but I dont want to
and i dont need to
because im going to hear about it anyways
actually you know what? maybe ill watch
maybe ill watch and ill put on some music
some real shit
ever heard of a band called pale cocoon?

Private message sent by Ross Miller six days after the original post.

I'm sorry. I'm having trouble.
You get it. We all are.
I can't bear to go through some things, to catalogue it all.
Doesn't feel real yet.
I lent Morgan a memory card a few months ago for that project he did in the caves. Erika shot some candids, I guess. Don't think they're on Facebook, you might as well have them.
I'll send what I can when I can.

Attached to the message are approximately fifteen photographs, candids of a group of students exploring the caves around Chattanooga. Most of the photos involve the students goofing around; Michael Froese, Morgan Dragosavich and Jonah Heartgrave are all featured prominently. Erika Steiglitz is in two, obviously having relinquished the camera. They all look like they're having a good time.