Dream Catcher

Chapter 3

The project took hours to finish, and it turned.. Perfect. Though, they kept on fighting and arguing during that time.

"It's perfect." She said proudly, "Well, yes, because of me." He smirked playfully. Seirra threw him a side eye, "You barely did anything than passing me those materials."

"Well, other than that, my charm did a pretty good job— as always." He winked at her, which she shuddered in cringe. "Charm, my ass." She rolled her eyes before grabbing her bag and their project.

"Leaving already?" He asked, and she nodded. When she's about to leave, Cassian's parents have already arrived.

"Oh, who's this beautiful young lady, dear?" His mother asked with a warm smile, "She's.. She's my friend— we are in the same class." Alevi answered. Deivi looked at him with a question as he introduced her as a 'Friend'— they were never friends.

"No we're no—" Seirra's words were shut as Cassian covered her mouth with his hand. "She's about to leave, I'll hail a cab for her." He said to his mother before dragging her towards the door, but his mom stopped them by blocking their way.

"Leaving already? How about you join us for dinner, young lady?" Without waiting for a response, his mother pulled her away from him and led her to the dining table. "I'm Lezibeth Monroe, Cassian's Mother." She introduced with a smile, "And you are?"

"The name is Seirra, madam. Pleasure to meet you." She said with a smile, "The pleasure's mine, Dear. What a lovely name for a lovely person." Mrs. Monroe stated while smiling back at her before making her sit down on one of the vacant seats. The maids arrived with various types of dishes and placed it down the table.

As they all took their seats, Mrs. Monroe serves her plates with different kinds of dishes for her to try. "Umm.. Thank you, Madam.." Seirra said with an awkward smile before she started eating along with them.

"You know, this is the first time my son has ever brought a girl here. It's always his guy friends." Mr. Monroe said while looking between his son and her.

"Uhh.. Is that so..?" She murmured, speechless. They all looked at Cassian who paused from eating.

"Umm.. It's not like that! No way!" He said defensively, face flushed red. "Oh really? Because you're being defensive right now, look at your face too." Mrs. Monroe teased with a giggle. "Mom!" His face goes redder by any second while his mom only laughs.

"So, dear.. What do you think of my son?" She asked, intrigued. Her son tried to speak but she shut him up. "Uhh.. Nice.. I think..?" Sierra reluctantly responded. "Mom, stop it." Cassian said with embarrassment.

"Fine, I'll stop." His mom said with a chuckle before they continued eating. She kept on talking and asking about her background. When she asked about her parents, Sierra's smile faltered.

"Actually.. I don't know who my parents are.. I'm a foster kid. My foster dad died when I was ten." She stated, which silenced everyone in the room. Cassian looked at her with a softer expression than the smug face he always wore.

"Oh my.. I'm sorry to hear that, dear.." His mom said softly, regret asking about it. Seirra shrugged it off and smiled, "It's alright, Mrs. Monroe, you didn't know so it's fine."

During the rest of the night, Cassian couldn't take his eyes off her. After she left, he went into his room and laid down on his bed, thinking about what she just said.

"I didn't know she was adopted.." He stared at the ceiling, "That's why she doesn't bring anyone during a parent's meeting.. How did I now notice? Wait.." He flipped into the other side of the bed, "So she's been living on her own? She's 16.. Wow.. How did she survive six years alone..?" He kept on muttering to himself.

He reached his phone and dialed Zach, his close friend. When Zach answered, he cleared his throat and spoke. "Hey, Zach. How did you know about Seirra again?"

"Seirra? Seirra Beveriona?" Zach asked.

"Yes, her. Can you tell me?"

"Uh, she and my cousin were schoolmates in elementary school. Why?" Zach said, then Cassian sat straight from his bed. "Can you give me your cousin's number, please?" He said, mentally pleading.

"Oh, chill man, you've never been this desperate before— especially because of Seirra. What's going on?" Zach asked in confusion but Cassian ignored his question and kept asking for his cousin's number. "Fine, I'll text you his number." Zach said, before hanging up.

After receiving the number, he quickly dialed it. The other line connected and answered the call. "Hello, who's this?" A man asked.

"Hi, I'm Cassian, Zach's friend. Can I ask you some questions?"

"Oh, Zach's friend? He mentioned a while ago about you. Sure, ask ahead." The man stated. "Well, You know about Sierra Beveriona, right?" Cassian asked, which the man agreed. "Could you tell me all you know about her?" He asked.

"Well, we went into the Starlight Elementary School at New Jersey, I always see her alone every time, and her favorite spot is under a big tree. She doesn't have any friends, she rarely speaks too. I remembered some made fun of her for being different and had no biological parents, it's mostly the higher grade students. And guess what? She punched them in the face." The man laughs, "After that, no one dared to mess with her. After her father's death, she was transferred to another school. I also heard that she's a foster and had no clue who her parents are— whether they're still alive or not. Her father's name is 'Benedict Johnson'. Poor her. But she's really kind, she helped me once when some kids tried to bully me." He added.

"Thanks a lot, that's all I need. Thank you.. What's your name?" Cassian said, the man chuckled, "I'm Aaron. And you're welcome." He said before hanging up.

Cassian let out a sigh before grabbing his laptop to search more about her. "Starlight Elementary school.. Benedict Johnson.." He took note of the important details from the information he gathered.