Things are starting to fall back into their old routines, but it’s not the same. You’re an adult now, a house guest in your own home. Your house doesn’t really feel like your pre-college home anymore and the rules have all changed… or have they? Check out these Home-for-the-Summer House Rules:

Curfews. Yes, I understand that most of us are way too old to have curfews. This isn’t about that. It’s rude to stumble in at 1 in the morning and wake up the entire house. And regardless of whether you’re 12 or 22, you should probably give your parents a heads up if you’re planning to stay out late. Your parents will always be your parents and if their baby is still out “missing” with no warning, they’re going to worry/call the cops.

Chores. Just because you’re an ‘adult’ now (especially because you’re an adult now) doesn’t mean you can laze around all summer. Your mother is not your maid. If your parents are feeding you and letting you live rent free for the summer, the least you can do is pick up after yourself and help around the house. Chances are, the rents have realized that you’re going to be around for awhile and they’ve already put you to work anyway.

Visitors. Again, clear it up with your parents before you invite your entire sorority over for a midnight bash in your basement. Even if it’s just a couple of study buddies who want to hang for the night, be respectful about it. Poor granny might be trying to sleep in the other room!

Smoking/Drinking/Drugs. You need to accept that you’re not on campus anymore. “Experimenting” the way you do in school is not okay during summer break… especially not at 10 am in your living room. It’s disrespectful and it makes your parents question whether or not they’re wasting money on your education.

Er… Sleeping Buddies. I’m not knocking it, but I really don’t know why you’d want to have sex with someone while your parents are in the room down the hall. I mean, if that’s your thing and your parents are perfectly cool with you having sex under their roof, then, by all means, enjoy it. But make sure they’re okay with it. (Note: I have no idea how to broach this topic.) If you get the green light, remember to always warn them when you have a guest over – you don’t want your daddy to bust in swinging a bat because he heard some strange “thumping noises” coming from your room.

Sadly, the rules have not changed. Your parents can still pull the whole, “You live under my roof, you live by my rules” speech and as long as that’s true, you can’t do a thing about it. But don’t worry – only a few more months til jailbreak!

So you’re finally settled back into home life for the summer. You’ve spent the last week catching up on sleep, home cooking and quality snuggle time with the dog and now it’s time to get out of the house. You rifle through the duffle bags you have yet to unpack, throw on some clothes and head out to visit your old high school haunts. Namely, the mall.

You park the car, grab a coffee from the first (of many) Starbucks in the suburban shopping center and begin wandering through the stores. You are contemplating a dress at Forever 21 when you hear someone calling your name. You turn around and realize it is an old high school “friend,” one of the many that you stopped talking to as soon as you threw your stuff on that twin extra long bed and began your life in college.

She wasn’t a good friend, but rather the kind of friend that you only had because you had homeroom together. The kind of friend that sort of drifted as soon as you got to college and realized that there were much better, cooler and more fun people in this world… and you didn’t have to talk to her anymore now that you didn’t have class together. The kind of friend that you only remember because she shows up in your Newsfeed every now and again.

“Hey!” You hope she can’t tell how fake your enthusiasm is.

“Oh my god. How ARE you!? I haven’t seen you in forever!” Her enthusiasm is most definitely not fake. “What have you been up to?”

You silently thank God that you got that coffee before you begin sorta catching her up on the past year, wondering why on earth she is the one person you had to run into. It is awkward and uncomfortable and you hope that someone will call you so you can get away. But no one calls. Fifteen minutes later you are still standing in the middle of Forever 21 trying to come up with some great excuse to bolt. And then the bomb drops.

“We’re both gonna be home all summer. We should totally do lunch!” She reaches into her bag to get her phone. “Is your number still the same?” You’re cornered. Your number is still the same and she clearly still has that programmed into her phone.

“Yeah, lunch sounds great,” you lie.  You know you won’t be meeting her for lunch, but you agree to it anyway. What else are you supposed to do, give her the finger and run away? You want to take her number so you know not to answer when she calls, but you don’t want to offend her by asking for a number you deleted 6 months ago. So you don’t and vow to yourself that you will be screening your calls for the next 3 months.

Luckily, homegirl is late for lunch with her mom and has to go.

“It was so great seeing you! Talk soon!” She hugs you goodbye as she runs off to the food court. You put that dress down and run out of the mall.

Oy.

The awkward run-in – been there, done that, avoided those calls like the plague. Good luck, people.

The end of the school year is here. Good for some (everyone who gets to come back next year), horribly scary for others (seniors), and bittersweet for all.

Before you tape up that last box and kiss your friends goodbye, though, take a moment to reflect on the year that was. We did, and we realized we have some great effing memories from the past 8 months. Some are big events (like the big 21st birthday) and others are just random nights on campus. But all of them make us laugh and smile and appreciate the amazingness that is college life.

So take a trip down memory lane with the CollegeCandy writers this week, then share your own favorite moments in the comments section below.

Ricki – University of Michigan: When my sorority sisters pretended that there was a squirrel in the house and fooled the whole house, and kept the joke going until we called the house mom, were all standing on chairs, and convinced a girl that she has let in this fake squirrel when she propped the door open to bring in her groceries.

Laura – St. Johns: All my friends turning 21 and no longer having to do all the beer runs myself!  Plus, finally being able to enjoy being 21 and experiencing the bars with my best friends.

Erica – Kent State: The first weekend of school one of my new roommates (who I didn’t know very well at the time)  & I went to the bars w some mutual friends. We ended up getting hammered & wandering away from the people we knew (who were also our ride home).  Basically, we were stranded so we ended up drunkenly wandering to someone’s house (we thought we knew them, turned ou twe didnt’), knocked on the door, CLIMBED THROUGH THEIR OPEN WINDOW & slept on their couch all night & left in the morning — all without them ever knowing!  Creepy? Yes.  Moral of the story? Don’t sleep with your windows open in a college town unless you want to wake up to drunk girls on your couches.

Lauren – University of Michigan: Jello wrestling my roommates in our backyard. Actually, spending 2 weeks making the jello was pretty fun too. Not fun: being tinted green for the following week. That stuff doesn’t wash off easily!

Brithny – Duke: Tailgating with my friends and dressing up as a box of Crayola crayons. Then getting doused with beer and becoming a dripping-wet, dye-coming-off, soggy pink crayon. And having the dye bleed through and staining my white underwear and undershirt pink. Crazy fun, but needed to buy new whitey-tighties.

Charlsie – Hollins: The last time my friends and I were all truly together, which was the History Department Party that is thrown at the end of every semester. We had ourselves a great time dancing with the local celebrity known as “Chicken Man.”

Donnette – Manhattanville College: My school experienced a blackout one weekend and it was absolute chaos!! There was even a guy in a mask going into open rooms to scare everyone.  My favorite memory is my open door policy that weekend: random strangers playing Catchphrase by flashlight, saying crazy things, and doing crazier things. Blackouts need to happen at every school!!

Alex – Lakehead University: Meeting my boyfriend. Let’s just say that I sought him out using some extreme stalker skills.

Kari – FSU: I don’t remember the whole event, but it involves floating down Bear Paw river in the middle of nowhere with a keg in an inner-tube tied to my toe. Good times.

Ashley – CU Boulder: I was at a fraternity formal and walked into my hotel room after being at the pool (everyone had been wasted) to find my date passed out spread eagle on the bed butt naked holding his tinkler. It was the absolute funniest moment!

Sarabeth – University of Texas: When I was making a friend’s birthday cake in the dorm and after icing and decorating it, I accidentally dropped it on the floor.

Kelly – Simmons University: The night before Spring Break, me and my friend Jen were in a coffee shop. We ran into a guy we had seen there a few times and spent a while talking to him. Somehow, the idea of driving to New York City came up (we live in Boston). We all decided to say f**k it and just go. It was kind of scary because we didn’t really know him (you’re not supposed to get in cars with strangers!) but we ended up having a blast. We got there at 2 AM, walked around the city, saw the sunrise in central park, then drove home. It was the perfect impromptu road trip.