Crank Chapters 1-10 Summary

Chapter 1: Flirtin' with the monster

Kristina opens up our story by telling us the before and after of her relationship with "the monster." Things were good, but the drug made it better. For a while, anyway. Uh-oh… This sounds really foreboding.

Since we're going to spending somewhere around five hundred pages with her, let's get to know our main character a little better. Kristina offers to tell us the real story behind her walk off the deep end, withholding zero of the sordid details.
She also alludes to the fact that her actions have caused a lot of grief for a lot of people.
Dude—we're only a few pages in and it already sounds like things haven't gone well.

Kristina tells us a little about her family, and it sure doesn't sound happy. She doesn't have a great relationship with her mom, who is going through some kind of midlife crisis, or her stepfather, who holds really high standards for her and really just stresses her out.
She also has two siblings—an older sister, Leigh, who's a lesbian, and a younger, extremely spoiled little brother named Jake. So basically, middle child syndrome. Combine that with some messed up authority figures and you get a home life that doesn't look pretty.
Having gotten the fam out of the way, Kristina tells us about the person inside of her, whom she likes much better than who she really is: Bree.
Bree pretty much sounds like the opposite of Kristina. She's crude, obscene, not a great student, and isn't quite all there mentally speaking.
Still, Kristina's obviously sick of her own perfect, gifted and talented persona, and Bree seems to be her antidote of choice.

Kristina imagines that even before the events of this tale unfolded, Bree was always there in some way. She tries to remember the first time she remembered feeling her presence and says she calls upon Bree when life for Kristina gets a little too overwhelming.
Okay, wait a minute… What's going on here? Is Bree an alter ego? Does Kristina have schizophrenia? What kind of narrator are we dealing with here, really?

As if she can read our minds, Kristina reassures us that she's totally not psychotic. Bree's not an imaginary friend or a hallucination or a Three Faces of Eve kind of deal; she's just the person Kristina becomes when she's not quite interested in being her good girl self.

Kristina now hits the throwback button and tells us a little about how this whole situation got started. The previous summer, a court-ordered visit sent her on an ill-fated summer visit to see her dad.
Obviously, her parents are divorced, so things didn't go well with their marriage. Her mother says that she got married too young and found herself in over her head; Kristina's dad disappeared from her life eight years ago following the divorce.
Then Dad came back into the picture after calling her mom and saying he wanted to see his little girl (except she's not so little anymore).
Kristina begged her mom to let her go, even though she's aware of her dad's many vices and destructive habits.
Giving into the court's decision, her mom sent her packing to see Dad. Meanwhile, to quote the immortal words of Han Solo, we've got a bad feeling about this.

Kristina finds herself on one of those obnoxious three-hour plan flights complete with screaming engines, fussy babies, third run movies on the TV system, and That Seatmate Who Just Won't Shut Up. Oh, and the in-flight meal consists of pretzels—that's all.
Albert, Kristina's talkative seatmate, tells her that he's been lonely since his wife died a year before. This causes her to reflect on how she's been alone and has felt neglected since her mom married Scott.

Albert has dozed off. Left in silence, Kristina starts thinking about her dad and whether or not eight years is too long to wait to reform a connection.

The plane touches down at a desert airport. Kristina says goodbye to Albert, thinking that the two of them are kind of alike, in a way—both have lost people that are important to them and are seeking ways to fill their lives.

Kristina lives in Reno, Nevada, where summers are pleasant. This is not the case in Albuquerque. It's really blazing hot, and to top it off, she's wearing a long sleeved black shirt—not the greatest wardrobe choice.
She scans the faces at the gate looking for her dad. She finally notices a guy with hair like hers who must be him, though she isn't ready to believe it. She always thought he was better looking.