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Prologue: Everyone will meet someone that greatly impacts their lives. For some, it will be a friend gone to soon. For others a mother, or another family member. For the lucky ones, it is a love, a person where one can feel at home. For me, this person and my experiences with him were a little more nondescript. In any case, I think thats what made it so special.

Chapter 1: Dodging rain that felt more like bullets, I looked up to see the neat and shaded dormitory. The mature Oak trees rustled in the wind. They were older now, deeply rooted in the ground. I remember when they were just sap0ling, when I was just a sapling in a matter of speaking. The trees were planted in 06' when the new dorms first went up. They were rumored to be gorgeous, equipped with bay windows, kitchens, common rooms, and free wireless internet. It was any college students dream residence hall. In fact, their construction almost convinced me to continue my education here at home. Now they just looked like lost dreams, like a life that could have been mine. A life i had effectively dodged. I had driven all night, and it was just turning 8:30 as I tugged at the heavy glass doors and made my way into what looked like a hotel lobby, minus the gold trim and added pomp and circumstance. The elevator took me to level I. I was on my way to I9, what i thought was a humorous coincidence considering my mission there that rainy September 9th, 2009. I must have looked ill by the way all the students looked at me, likely on their way to their 9 o'clock classes. Although I would have liked to think it was that certain street-smart vibe I acquired in the 5 weeks I spent navigating the streets of Chicago, I knew that this wasn't the case. My heart beat out of my chest and beads of sweat trailed down my face. I noticed my hands weren't much better off when my finger slipped off the elevator button. silently, I wondered why i was even there, I was sure he wouldn't remember the pact we made all those years ago. But with clarity, purpose, and a little hope, I knocked on the fake mahogany door. A familiar face at last, a beautifully changed but nevertheless familiar face. "Well... do you remember me?" I said hesitantly. Without any reassurance, I continued, "um... it's just me, I just wanted to come quick to see you real quick. You know i never break a promise... You probably don't even remember." All i got for a response was an all-encompassing hug. I had missed that. There was a quiet understanding in his eyes as he beaconed me inside. "I'm gunna go grab a coat real quick." he said while pointing at to doorway to the disaster that must have been his room. Despite myself, I looked around the great room, scanning for anything that would provide some insight as to where he has been the past few years. Nothing lent itself for interpretation except for the liquor bottles already lining the shelf above the kitchen cabinets. I as not remotely surprised. If it was any other person, I would be silently judging them, but with Garret this just wasn't possible. Even if i should, or wanted to. All rational thinking went out the door. There was something free about him that I couldn't help but envy. Sure, I was successful, always have been, but I was coming to realize that this was my prison. It's hard to imagine, but the pressure of future plans can be more enclosing than the most indestructible steel bars. How could I judge someone I cared about so much, for a lifestyle I so deeply envied? So, as he returned and suggested we go get a bite to eat, I went willingly, and without reservation, leaving the voices of all my family and friends behind, regardless of all the valid points they had made in the passed. He opened the door mockingly, beaconing me out into the pouring rain. Validity didn't interest me right now.