"Smile through the pain and put your needs to the side. Keep your collapsing world propped up and never show any emotion."

Such are the rules for Ke'Andre "Lemonade" Lemmons to obey when he's the middle child of a family full of social-climbers  and jet-setters wanting to be the next Kardashian dynasty. Meanwhile, it's Ke'Andre who's forced to give up his dreams of being an artist in favor of working at a fast-food joint as a cashier while finishing his senior year at high school and being forced to marry a vicious girlfriend named Kendra who's twice as worse as his sisters and mother who despise him for being the only boy in the family. His apathetic friend Sheila Beckham and even his father offer little to no comfort while pushing him to appease everyone. But after being disowned, laid off, and dumped after his college graduation; Ke'Andre finally decides that he's had enough and plans to end it all.

Unfortunately, his plans are thwarted when Sheila rats him out and he's shipped off to a mental hospital. There, he's forced to confront his demons and hidden emotions thanks to an unusual group of athletic jocks and their sister who act as hisorderlies and nurse alongside intensive therapy sessions. Ke'Andre, however, still wants to end it all especially when Sheila announces that she and Kendra are dating and that his family has officially denounced him before their tragic deaths in a freak accident.

Here, in vivid detail- from beginning to end, is the tale of a young man who was scorned by family, betrayed by his ex-fiance, and alienated by his only friend as he is pushed to the ultimate limit...before finding and reclaiming his life. And maybe, just maybe, he can find love while he's at it.

Copyright 2025 by JayDEvers, all rights reserved. This story may not be photocopied, republished, or redistributed on any other website other than Wattpad without the consent of the author. Any attempt of doing one or all of the listed will result in civil liability.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are used in a fictional manner. Any resemblances to the persons mentioned in this story, living or dead, are purely coincidental.

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So...this is going to be a new story that I'm going to be working on. And unlike "Pavane for a Lost Boy (Or Rather, How to Survive Loss after Rejection)," this story isn't going to be full of the teenage angst (though it might at times, I'm not sure). But my main character is going to be fresh out of high school and dealing with a lot of internal, mental, and emotional pain from being rejected and alienated while also addressing mental/emotional health.

As for any plans of romance, I can only say that there will be a bit of an open ending. But I can only tell you that there will be an uphill battle.

Now, I have to warn you. There will be trigger warnings that aren't going to be suitable for the faint-hearted or the underaged, including but not limited to the following: emotional/verbal/mental abuse, child negligence, homophobia, suicide ideation/thoughts/attempts, mental/emotional breakdowns, and drug usage. This story will be marked "Mature" out of preservation. Reader discretion is STRONGLY advised!

With that said, folks, I encourage y'all to pull up a chair and get ready for a story of a lifetime! And when you do read this story, keep Ellen Degeneres' words of wisdom when she signs off from her television show: "Be kind to one another." The world needs a little kindness, folks. Even with all this hate, civil division, and other negative news; the world needs a bit of light in the darkness. So get ready for a wild time.

P.S.: I'll also post sneak previews of this story on my Patreon page (www.patreon.com/HouseofEversbyJayDEvers) and I might also post the full story as well. We'll see.

With that said, show this writer some love and remember to...

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