CAMBRIA

THREE

Of course, in the moment, we don't realize what grand event is transpiring. No, it isn't until much later. Weeks, months, years, when we scan through our memories and discover the catalyst moment.

Years later, Cambria would think to herself, what would have happened if I never went out with Mara that night? What if we had chosen a different bar? What if I had never moved to Pine Hills?

"Nice to meet you," he stuck out his hand and shook hers, the first one. The one with light brown hair and blue eyes. "And please, just call me Theo."
Cambria's smile lingered as he released her hand and she turned to the other one, dark brown hair, even darker eyes. "Jackson," he said, taking her hand lightly in his. "What a unique name you have. Cambria. I like it."
She felt the heat in her cheeks. "Thank you."
"Cambria's new to town," Mara informed them.
They both looked at her with intrigue. "Are you, now?" said Theo.
"I am, indeed"
"Where from?" asked Jackson.
"Somewhere you've probably never heard of."
"Try me."
She held his gaze. "Linden Falls. Not anywhere close to here."
"You got me there," he said.
"What brings you to Pine Hills?" from Theo.
She considered his question. "I'm still trying to figure that out."

By eleven o'clock, they were thicker than thieves.

Mara, Oliver, and Lily had drifted off, deeply immersed in conversations of the past. Theo and Jackson took this as an opportunity to get acquainted with Cambria.

She wasn't sure what her alcohol tolerance was, but at this point, she had surely surpassed it. Everything in her was telling her to stop drinking, yet every time they came back with more, she couldn't decline.

The conversations were flowing faster than the drinks. She had not known these men for the better part of an hour, yet already it felt as though she had known them her whole life.

Cambria had never experienced anything quite like this before.

Normally, when she met someone new, there was the awkward dance of small-talk and invasive questions. But nothing about this interaction felt invasive. If anything, she was more than willing to pour her heart out, a tether to this new life.

She felt a familiarity with them that she could not explain.

But most importantly, she felt comfortable with them. Comfortable, at ease, and at home.

The night was a hazy blur: smiles and laughter, captivated stares, the wink of an eye. Theo and Jackson at the table across from her, Theo's hand on his cold beer. Jackson setting three shot glasses down in front of them and smirking at her, testing her, seeing if she'd do another. Theo's hand in hers as he pulled her onto the dancefloor and spun her around. How the room blurred, and she couldn't see anything else but him.

It was almost two in the morning when they left the bar, Cambria and Theo. It wasn't something they discussed, rather, something that just happened. As if they did this all the time.

The air outside was warm and inviting. Theo led the way as he hailed a cab and they got inside. Three blocks north, two blocks south, then she lost track. Eventually the cab pulled up in front of an apartment building and Theo handed him cash.

After climbing seven flights of stairs (no elevator), they reached Theo's place, at last.

He unlocked the door and brought her inside, quickly surveying the state of his place. He tossed some clothes into the bedroom, put a few dishes in the sink.

"Sorry," he said as they both sat on the sofa. "I don't normally bring people back here."
"By people, you mean women."
"Well, yes."
"I find that extremely hard to believe."
He held her gaze. "Why do you say that?"
"Have you looked at yourself?"
He laughed. "Stop."
"I'm serious. Surely you have girls flitting in and out of here all the time."
He found this amusing. "I really don't. You're the first one in... well, some time."
This, she found even more hard to believe.
"You're doing things to my head," she laughed.
"Am I?"
She studied him. "Why is that?"
"I don't know. I guess I take this kind of thing seriously."
"So it's me, then."
"Yes." He held her gaze. "There's something different about you, Cambria. I can't quite put my finger on it."
"I'm not anything special."
"Don't be modest."
She was quiet for a moment. "I don't normally do this sort of thing either."
"What changed your mind tonight?"
She held his gaze. "You."
He held hers back.
"Tell me something," he said, breaking the silence.
"Like what?"
"Anything."
She thought about this. "I've never been to the mountains."
"The mountains," he repeated. "You want to?"
"Yes. Very much so."
He smiled at this. "I'll take you."
"I don't even know you."
"That's not true. I think we know each other quite well at this point, wouldn't you say?"
This made her smile. "Touché."
"There's still one question you haven't answered."
"And what's that?"
"Why you came here. To Pine Hills."
With a look of satisfaction, she smiled at him. "Prepare to be disappointed, then."
"Why?"
"Because," she said. "I haven't even figured that out myself."