The Hatesick Diaries

THE HATESICK DIARIES ST. MARY’S REBELS BOOK 5 SAFFRON A. KENT COPYRIGHT This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental. The Hatesick Diaries © 2023 by Saffron A. Kent All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Cover Art by Najla Qamber Designs Editing by Olivia Kalb & Leanne Rabesa Proofreading by Virginia Tesi Carey Jan 2023 Edition Published in the United States of America CONTENTS St. Mary’s Rebels Series Also by Saffron A. Kent Dedication Reader’s Extras St. Mary’s Crest Lipstick Guide Lovesick & Hatesick Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Epilogue Coming Soon Free Book Soccer Nation Acknowledgments About the Author ST. MARY’S REBELS SERIES Bad Boy Blues (SMR book 0.5) My Darling Arrow (SMR book 1) The Wild Mustang & The Dancing Fairy (SMR book 1.5) A Gorgeous Villain (SMR book 2) These Thorn Kisses (SMR book 3) Hey, Mister Marshall (SMR book 4) ALSO BY SAFFRON A. KENT The Unrequited Gods & Monsters Medicine Man (Heartstone Series 1) Dreams of 18 (Heartstone Series 2) California Dreamin’ (Heartstone Series 3) BLURB Echo Adler hates Reign Davidson. He’s the reason the love of her life left her all alone and broken-hearted two years ago. So it should be easy to stay away. It should be easy not to dream about his dark, mean eyes, or his cruel but sexy smirks. It should be easy not to think about the guy who ruined her happily ever after. Only it’s not. Sometimes his intense stares make her heart race, and those smirks of his make her breathless. But it needs to stop. Because she has a mission: to get back together with her ex-boyfriend. And Echo will be damned if she keeps dreaming about Reign. The guy who not only makes her sick with hate, but who also happens to be her ex’s best friend. NOTE: This is a standalone set in the world of St. Mary’s. DEDICATION For every good girl who’s dreamed of her happily ever after with a bad boy. And written about it in her diary. For my husband, now and always. The only guy I’ve ever written about in my diary. READER’S EXTRAS Official Spotify playlist Pinterest Boards Reign & Echo St. Mary’s School for Troubled Teenagers Lovesick (n.): In love with someone. Or loving someone to the point of obsession. To the point of sickness. Hatesick (n.): In hate with someone. And as a result, being obsessed and possessed; being sick and consumed by them. Much like its antonym, lovesick. CHAPTER ONE Six years ago. Bardstown He’s a criminal. He has to be. First, he’s wearing all black: black jeans and a black hoodie with the hood up. In summer, no less. And second, he’s very carefully and cautiously laying out a string on the ground. It’s a very long string too. It at least circles around the thick bushes that border this massive back yard, and goes well into the woods behind that back yard. Where I’m currently standing behind the thick trunk of a tree and watching him secretly. Or more like watching his back, because he’s facing away from me, walking backward. When he’s come far enough I guess, he stops and kneels on the ground, completely blocking my view. I can’t see what he’s doing. Why he’s bent over that string. Whatever it is though, it can’t be good. It might even be dangerous. The prudent thing to do — prudent means practical; also known as feasible, realistic, sensible, matter of fact — is to turn around and run. To get away from him. Especially when no one knows that I’m here, wandering around the woods in the middle of the night, and not up in my bedroom, sleeping like I should be. In my defense, tonight is special. Plus I couldn’t sleep in my new bed, in the new house, in a new place. We — my parents and I — only arrived here last week, see. Both of them got a new job and so we packed up and left our old apartment in Brooklyn and came to Bardstown to start a new life. As opposed to Brooklyn, everything is super open here: our big two-story house; these woods that I’m taking an impromptu walk in; the back yard beyond it, the giant manor beyond the back yard. But I’m not going to lie, I miss Brooklyn. I miss my friends, my old school, even our old rundown apartment that had more leaks and squeaky floorboards than not. But it’s okay. My mom always says that you make sacrifices for people you love. That this is what love is. To compromise. To make adjustments and to be good to the people you love. So I’m happy as long as my parents are happy. Except for this. I’m not happy about this, whatever it is that this boy is doing. I mean, if he’s really doing something bad then shouldn’t I confront him? Shouldn’t I stop him? I’m new here, yes, but these are my woods now. This is my house, my property and estate. Well, not technically. We only live here, but… “I know