If this kind of bullshit continues, I'm dropping this series. I didn't start reading this for forced drama that ruins the mood of the series.
I don't think it's really forced in this case. Shizuka's main defining trait, since the start, has been Komi level interpersonal skills. She gets chocked up trying to say high to her classmates, so it's pretty much inevitable that she'd fail spectacularly after getting thrown into the deep end like that.
Saki's normal forwardness would probably have helped to clear things up, but Shizuka has a tendency to avoid things that frighten and worry her, which currently includes Shizuka, giving her nothing to work with and a whole host of bad memories and guesses to stew on.
Frankly, short of the new girl stepping in to set them straight, just about any other outcome would feel forced.