Shock. Grief. Anger.

It was an emotional day Wednesday at East Paulding High School as news spread that two students had died in a car accident, the second such tragedy this year.

Gina Marie Laird, an 18-year-old senior, and her passenger, Dillan Porter, 16, a sophomore, died Tuesday after she lost control of the 1998 Cadillac Catera she was driving on Due West Road, police said.

"It's just a sorrowful thing. It's like a kick in the gut," said Charles Kuss, the school's principal. Counselors from two churches were on hand to speak to any students who needed it, Kuss said.

Trooper Larry Schnall, a spokesman for the Georgia State Patrol, said Laird was eastbound on Due West Road when she started to veer off the right shoulder. She over-corrected, crossing the center line and into the lane of on-coming traffic.

When she tried to regain control, she overcorrected again, veering off the right side of the road into a small area of trees.

The impact sounded like a cannon had gone off, said James Miller, who was home watching television. He ran to investigate and saw the twisted metal, fallen branches, broken glass and the two teens pinned in the car.

As Miller called 911, he talked to the teenagers. But they were unconscious.

"I really could not do anything to get them out," said Miller, 40. "I just sat there suffering with them . . . It's a horrible thing. There's no way around it."

Laird was wearing a seat belt, Schnall said, but Porter was not.

Bill Laird, Gina's father, said his daughter and Dillan had just started seeing each other.

"Our hearts go out to the family of the other boy," he said. "He was a good kid.

"We thank everyone in the community for their support . . . and we are going to need that support."

In August two East Paulding students, Jonathan Hicks, 17, and Rianna Winchester, 16, died after the SUV in which they were passengers overturned on Mount Tabor Church Road, near Due West. The 17-year-old driver and another teen were injured in that accident.

In 2005, 133 drivers between the ages of 16 and 20 died in car accidents in Georgia. In 2004, 124 died, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Rev. Jim Akins, pastor of Life Care at West Ridge Church, said some students were very upset Wednesday and others were angry that this had happened at their school not once, but twice. He said they asked: Why us? Why did this have to happen to our friends? This is the second time — what's this about?

"We don't make excuses," Akins said. "We try to comfort them. These things happen. But we believe, coming from a church, that God will comfort us and help us understand this at another time."

He said about 30 students visited with church or school counselors.

"One of the biggest roles that I play, really, is just listening," said the Rev. Michael Creighton, the youth pastor at Hope Church. "Talking is one of the first steps in the grieving process."

Friends and family of the students made a makeshift memorial at the crash site, marking it with stuffed animals, candles and notes. A cross was fashioned out of two sticks of wood.

With two tragedies at the school this year, "everybody is torn up about it," said Haley Scott, 18, a senior at East Paulding High and a friend of Laird's.

"She was so sweet. She was there for anybody that needed her."

Clark Funeral Home in Hiram is handling funeral arrangements for both victims.