Sarah Blake Cheeks Novels & Stories

The humming stopped. "You're late, Jackie," the girl said. Her voice was sweet, innocent. But underneath it, there was a metallic flange, a reverb that sounded like grinding tectonic plates. She turned around slowly. It was Sarah. She looked exactly as he remembered her. Seven years old. Missing front tooth. Holding her teddy bear, Mr. Snuggles. But where her face should have been, there was only smooth, blank skin. No eyes. No nose. And then, a mouth tore open—a vertical slit filled with too many teeth, dripping with golden light.

The shit fit like a second skin. I took her in from head to toe, "what's on your face?" I looked at my sisters accusingly. "It's just a little powder Gabe, don't be a caveman. Come on; it's too late to do anything about it; we'll be late." Is that why you two waited until the last minute? She's right; it wasn't that bad, no color on her cheeks, and they'd left her lips bare, with just some gloss to add shine to the natural soft pink of her mouth.

Sighing, Sabrina splashed her face with the cold water and shook her head. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Sabrina's eyes widened in shock after seeing herself. She almost couldn't recognize her! Her cheeks were flushed as if she was wearing a blush on. While her lips were red and swallowing as if she was beaten by a huge bee. In her case, the bee was Gabriel. Shaking her head, her eyes wandered down her neck, her body went frozen upon seeing some red tiny marks on it. Sabrina wanted to scream. Her kiss marks from the other night were not gone yet. Now, she had more on her neck and all over her chest!

“I forgot it was your eighteenth birthday. Do you actually think you’ll find a mate tonight?” I pressed my lips together instead of answering. One of the other girls in the group stepped out of the shadows. She was petite with long brunette hair, and just as nasty as the others. “What do you think, Sarah? She even put makeup on for the occasion.” Sarah scoffed and reached out, pinching a strand of my hair between her fingers. “As if mascara and lipstick could fix this ugly mug.” Before I could react, she smeared her hand across my mouth hard, wiping my lipstick all over my face. Then, she wiped her palm on my apron, staining it pink.

Sasha snorted into her toothbrush and pictured him rolling one shoulder like a man tuning a machine. She dressed in black leggings and a ribbed tank, hair knotted high. The bruise beneath her left eye had faded from thundercloud to shoreline—yellow-brown with the faint, thin seam of a butterfly bandage at her cheekbone. She touched it once, the way you touch a door you’ve already locked, and told her reflection: don’t apologize for being here.

Blake floored the gas pedal. The mourning hall was blanketed in white, funeral music echoing softly. My photo was placed in the center. In the picture, there was the faintest hint of a smile at the corner of my lips. When Blake rushed in, Sarah's eyes were red as she lit a candle before my photo with trembling hands. "Mom!" he called hoarsely. What answered him was Sarah's hard slap. "You animal! How dare you show your face here?" The hatred in Sarah's eyes almost swallowed him whole.

However, I set aside the whole truth and simply respond, "I don't blame you. But you have to face the world, even when it sucks sometimes." "All the time," he corrects, tearing off the plastic from his frozen pastry and placing it in the toaster. I slide my bowl of chips into the microwave. "Flip your camera," I instruct. With a sigh, Blake rotates the camera, finally showing his face on the screen. His sharp jaw structure, messy brown hair, expressive amber eyes, and a Hobbit T-shirt over checkered boxers come into view. He was once hailed as a ‘classic beauty’ as a child, and that hasn't changed.

“Of course, I know I don’t matter. That's why I sleep soundly at night. I’ve accepted it.” She leaned closer, voice low. “But here’s what you need to accept, Lena—neither do you.” Lena’s face went white, then red, fury consuming her. Smack! The sound cracked through the air like thunder. Lena’s hand connected with Sarah’s cheek, leaving a fiery imprint. Stunned for just a moment, Sarah narrowed her eyes. “You really shouldn’t have done that,” she whispered, a chill radiating from her. Crack! Her palm flew, sharp and precise, landing hard against Lena’s face.

she cries out as she turns to look at herself in the mirror. Sarah and I both burst out laughing at Jenna’s reaction. “You are joking right?” I ask her as I move beside her and wrap my arm around her. Sniffling and tears rolling down her cheeks, “No, I am not joking,” she replies stubbornly. Sarah comes to her other side and wipes the tears from her cheeks with a tissue.

Bellatrix's soft and sweet voice grated irritably against Sarah's ear. "Would you help me feel better?" Sarah felt like she was about to blow a lid when she saw Damien smile. Just as he leaned his face closer to hers, the camera glitched. She frowned. "Huh? What's going on? Why's it glitching?" She smacked her phone a couple of times, as if doing so would make the camera work better. It didn't.