Ken--about Natalee's classmates and roommates--IMHO they were all fairweather friends. Not a true friend amongst them. Especially the ones that appear on TV. Some of the girls appeared to be gloating in their interviews. Jealousy? Kind of an attitude of:"See what happens to the smart kids? Not so smart, was she? I'm smarter, I'm alive".
I read that Natalee only came to Mountain School District in 9th grade, having spent her elementary and junior high years elsewhere.
These other girls--the jealous ones damning Natalee with faint praise--have probably been tight since first grade, or at least junior high. Natalee was an outsider--a bright and beautiful outsider. The type that makes the home girls band together in their ignorance and envy.
You may be right about Natalee being an outsider. Maybe it was cause enough for her to go, when her best friends did not. She had everything going for her, so it's understandable that someone could be envious of that.
But I doubt they would hold back now if there was a chance of helping her.
What a magnificent, eloquent post,
a Palladin winner for sure.
Natalee's fairweather friends are just toast...
none of them worthy of her.