Chapter 1 - starting over

I had just hit my 27th birthday, and I was feeling pretty unfulfilled. I couldn't quite figure out why, as from on the surface my life seemed pretty great. In the last 9 years I had been through college, got a decent job right after, lived in a pretty nice apartment, and managed to keep myself in pretty good shape. I didn't have a steady girlfriend, but I never had a hard time getting girls, and there seemed to be a steady flow of potential relationships always in and out of my apartment.
But something was missing. After mulling over what it could be I finally figured it out. When I first went through college I commuted rather than living on campus. Because of this I turned down a lot of parties, and missed a lot of the normal college experiences. However, staying at home also gave me the opportunity to keep up my high school workout plan, and eat relatively nutritional meals, which is how I avoided the normal weight gain that most college students experience.
I had kept up these regular workouts, and eating "right" after college, so while most of my coworkers and friends were starting to sprout little pot bellies and bubble butts, I kept my decently toned 6 pack.
As I was sitting at my monotonous desk job one day, pondering my situation, I made a decision. I was gonna go back to college.
This time would be different though, I would live in the dorms, attend every party I heard about, drink lots of beer, and overall have fun living like a first time college student.
I did feel a bit weird going to a dorm from an apartment at age 27, but that was a necessary part of the experiment so I had to do it. I also decided I would tell everyone I was 23, so I wouldn't seem too much like an old guy. In order to get the experience I wanted I had to be accepted. Plus I've always had a pretty youthful appearance, and could easily pass for 23.
So that day I marched in my bosses office and put in my two weeks, and when I got home immediately hit the college applications. Before I knew it the fall semester was starting and I was off to Michigan State.
On move-in day I met my roommate, a relatively athletic looking dude named Adrian. I found out Adrian liked to go for runs, and spend time in the gym, so I thought it would be cool to have a workout buddy. Adrian was 22, so I was glad they gave me an older roommate that could drink, and not a fresh out of high school 18 year old.
At first it was easy to keep up a good exercise routine. We would hit the gym after classes, and run a few miles each night on the week nights. The weekends were reserved for partying.
After about a month our routine had changed quite a bit. The pressure of classes, and the exhaustion of hangovers made it so we were only going to the gym Tuesdays and Thursdays, and running three nights a week. We also were now partying not only on weekends, but on most of the weeknights too. Adrian partied a little harder than I did, and eventually he was only running with me two nights a week, then one, then none. I tried to keep up the three nights a week, but without the additional motivation from my friend, it became a lot easier for me to skip my late night runs. Also, this life of lots of drinking (and though I hate to admit it, the occasional drunken cigarette) had taken a toll on my endurance, so when I did run I couldn't go quite as far, or for quite as long.
Our after-class gym sessions were also becoming more scarce, and when we did go to the gym it was usually followed by an after workout pig out session at the cafeteria. Late night study sessions were accompanied by late night pizzas and beer, and followed by later night drinking.
By the time November hit my life had definitely gotten a lot lazier than it had been a few short months ago but I didn't mind. To be blunt I was having a blast, getting laid pretty often, pigging out on awesome food, hanging out with my new best friend, and still keeping my grades up so I was pretty happy.
Everything seemed awesome, and suddenly the events of one weekend changed everything, and I would say for the better.