All Chapters of We Became Strangers: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

My mom froze before turning to face me, Yvonne Gunther."Why are you suddenly asking?" She lowered her voice. "Seeing everyone else in love finally made you jealous?"You always said you didn't want me setting you up, so I never brought it up." Taking my hand excitedly, she continued, "Your fiance was supposed to be Mrs. Jackson's son. Their family moved overseas years ago, but she's kept in touch with me all this time–""Oh my, Sylvia, you're introducing someone to Yvonne already?"My mom's voice had risen just enough for Tina Mayford's mother to overhear, and she laughed."Come to think of it, our three families are so close. If Yvonne hadn't been born a month later, who knows who would've gotten engaged instead?""Everyone has their own destiny," Samuel Stanton's mother said gently. "Sylvia, whose son were you just talking about–""She won't date anyone."Before Samuel's mother could finish her sentence, Samuel interrupted.He looked down and remained focused on cutting thr

Conrad Jackson.He was the graduate student I had met during my junior year when I went abroad for a research project.We were the same age, but he had skipped ahead by two years, so he was already pursuing his master's degree at the time.Back then, he had strongly encouraged me to apply to his advisor's graduate program."For your field, the research environment overseas is much stronger than it is back home. You should consider coming here."Our lab could really use someone with your talent."A year later, what he said hadn't changed in the slightest."I never imagined we had this kind of connection, but I don't want you to feel pressured. We can just be friends if that's what you'd prefer."My advisor still brings you up from time to time. He genuinely thinks highly of you. I'm curious, what do you have on your mind right now?"He knew exactly where to draw the line. He effortlessly steered the conversation back to academics.For the first time since stubbornly choosing t

"That's impossible!" Samuel blurted out before he could stop himself."She already told me she was applying to our college's graduate program at the end of the year."Why would she suddenly apply somewhere else now?""Yeah, Mrs. Gunther. Is Yvonne still upset with us?" Tina's eyes darted around uneasily."Maybe she just didn't want to travel back with us, so she asked you to lie to us?"I'm sorry. I'll apologize to her."As Tina's voice softened, Samuel's expression relaxed slightly.He immediately believed her explanation and secretly let out a sigh of relief.Meanwhile, Sylvia remained perfectly calm."Yvonne has always been a girl with a mind of her own. Changing her plans at the last minute isn't unusual."Besides, you're her friends. You should know better than I do." She fixed her gaze on Samuel."An overseas college suits her far better. She insisted on staying in the country before. Don't you know who she stayed for, Samuel?"Samuel parted his lips before awkwardly

Samuel guessed correctly.But by the time he figured it out, I had already passed the college's entrance assessments, joined the research lab, and been accepted into a combined master's and Ph.D. program.Almost immediately after settling in, I volunteered for a classified research team and began a six-month fully isolated research project.The person by my side the entire time was Conrad.The day I arrived overseas, he was waiting at the airport to pick me up. Later, he helped me with countless things, allowing me to settle into the new city far more quickly than I ever could have on my own.At first, Conrad and I had simply been friends who had collaborated on a project. Now, there was an unmistakably different vibe between us.We were both completely devoted to research. We could spend hours discussing a single petri dish in the laboratory. Yet whenever our hands accidentally brushed against each other's, we would both pull away immediately and awkwardly cover our embarrassmen