Red | Quil Ateara V [1]

Three

Only hours after Kallah had delivered two cupcake trays to the Cullen household for Bella Swan's birthday, the pale girl from Arizona had apparently disappeared. She stood outside the Swan house in Forks. She had decided to join the search party since Bella was one of her childhood friends. After searching the surrounding forest for hours, Kallah began to comfort Charlie, Bella's father.

Kallah looked up at the sound of another vehicle arriving. Three familiar teenage boys appeared. Jacob helped Billy into his wheelchair. The four then approached Kallah and Charlie. The two older men shook hands.

"We'll find her, Charlie. Practically the whole town is searching for her," said Billy.

"They don't need to search much longer," said Kallah. She then pointed to the forest. "Look!"

A tall man with a tattoo on his bicep appeared from the forest. He was carrying a sleeping Bella in his arms. She was wrapped in an oversized jacket. Charlie rushed forward, immediately taking Bella from the man's arms. Billy, Jacob, and Embry followed him.

Kallah looked over to see Quil still standing next to her. He bit his lip as he gave her a shy smile. Kallah returned it, shoving her cold hands into her pockets.

"Hey," she greeted. "You're Quil, right?"

He nodded in reply, "I'm surprised you remembered my name."

Kallah furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She asked, with curiosity tainting her voice, "Why? We just met a few days ago. I'd say your name is still pretty fresh in my memory."

"It's just... girls tend not to remember my name," shrugged Quil. "I guess they think I'm not worth the time."

Kallah didn't know what to say to that. Even though she had only met Quil a few days prior, he seemed like a genuinely nice person. Not to mention he was cute, a thought that had been on her mind since their first interaction with one another.

"Well, if it means anything, I think you seem pretty cool," replied Kallah.

It appeared as though it took a moment before Quil fully realized what she had just told him. After a few seconds, a grin spread across his face as he felt his cheeks heat up.

"You work at the bakery, right? Across the street from the supermarket?" he asked. "I think that's what Billy told us a few days ago."

Kallah nodded, "Yeah, I do. Have you ever been there?"

Quil shook his head, "Nope. I've never been there before, but my mom says your muffins are really good. Maybe I'll swing by tomorrow."

Kallah smiled at him, "You totally should! I would like to have someone to talk to. Are you going to bring Jacob and Embry with you?"

Quil glanced over at his two best friends. They seemed rather oblivious as they both waited for Billy to finish talking with Sue and Harry Clearwater. After thinking it over, Quil made his decision.

"Nah!" he waved his hand dismissively. "Those two would clear out all the cookies. There wouldn't be any left for me!"

Kallah chuckled, looking down at her feet for a moment. She returned her attention to Quil. She was going to reply but stopped when Jacob called out to Quil. He and Embry both waved him over to the truck. Billy was already waiting in this driver's seat.

"Come on, Ateara! We gotta go!" shouted Jacob.

Quil sighed, almost as though he didn't want to leave. He looked at Kallah: "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure. You have a good night, Quil," replied Kallah.

"You too," he said, slowly walking backwards in the direction of his friends. "See ya, Kallah!"

Kallah raised a hand to wave at him. She watched him turn around and jog over to Jacob and Embry. The two teenage boys seemed to be teasing him. They both had wide grins on their faces as they playfully shoved Quil.

The next day, Kallah would immediately rush to see who was entering the bakery each time the door opened. It was late in the afternoon when Quil appeared, smiling as he approached the counter. He crossed his arms on top of the cake display case. He took note of Kallah's pink apron, which he thought made her look extremely cute.

"Hey! What's up?" he asked.

"Nothing much," answered Kallah. "You?"

Quil shrugged, a small smirk crossing his face, "Just talking to a pretty girl."

Kallah paused, not expecting that to be his answer at all. She was speechless as a blush began to take over her face. Quil's smirk grew into a grin when he noticed. Despite the relentless teasing he had received from Jacob and Embry for talking to a girl for once, he knew he was going to have a good time with Kallah.