Character Analysis
Let's be honest—we all have that friend. Yeah, you know which one we're talking about—the one who asks tons of questions without waiting for answers, somehow manages to be peppy and bubbly all the time, and never shuts up. Kristina has one, too. Or at least she did before crank took over her life. Her name is Sarah, and while they might have gotten along great once, Sarah is now as incompatible with Kristina's new lifestyle as oil is in water.
Sarah and Kristina have been best friends since fourth grade. She's Irish, "with embarrassing freckles and wicked red hair she was forever trying to tame" (The Phone, Still in My Hand, Rang. 3-4). When Sarah calls Kristina after her trip to her dad's and drops a nuclear bomb of questions on her, it's really the last thing Kristina needs and one of our first clues that something is about to go very wrong. "Kristina could listen to Sarah talk for hours," Kristina tells us. "Bree was ready to scream" (The Phone, Still in My Hand, Rang.10). Bree and Sarah are not friends, no matter how long Kristina and Sarah have been.
The really sad part about Sarah's role in the story is that Kristina's relationship with the monster totally kills one of her oldest friendships. Later in the book, when she decides to try to reform herself, Kristina attempts to reconnect with Sarah to no avail. "She was nice," Kristina says, "but had moved onto more reliable friends. Straight friends" (Other Problems.2). Crank not only destroys Kristina's future and her mind, but dismantles relationships that were once important to her, and her friendship with Sarah is a major casualty in this department.