The CONquest of Nellie Bly

I sighed and began to go back inside when I heard his muffled voice calling my name. I turned to see him standing a few feet behind me. He smiled weakly.

“Hey.” He waved. I nodded and moved back to him, looking into his big, sad eyes. His cheeks still had tear-stains on them.

“Everyone’s looking for you.” I whispered. He laughed, but didn’t smile. After staring at the ground for a few seconds, he looked back up at me.

“Weren’t we just having the time of our lives a few hours ago?” He asked. “Weren’t we just street performing and eating ice cream? Just a little while ago?” Another tear slipped down his cheek and I wiped it away, avoiding eye contact. A sob escaped him and he buried his face in my hair. “She was fifteen, Nellie. Fifteen.”

I started to cry, too. “Conor… there wasn’t anything we could have done… We don't even know what happened yet.” I choked. “Please, don’t blame yourself.”

He didn’t reply, only pulled away to look at me. I decided to change the subject. “Where have you been all this time? I’ve been sitting with your parents in a waiting room for a half-hour.” I grabbed his hand and kissed it. “We were worried about you. Come on, let’s go inside. Your parents are waiting. So is Violet.”

“I don’t want to see Violet.” He snapped.

“Alright, alright. Conor… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He sighed, hugging me close again. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper. I’m just so… Oh my God, this can’t be happening! I’m pretty sure this is a bad dream. We’ll wake up to find an empty pill-bottle next to us, right? Like the whole thing was a terrible drug trip, a Rohypnol nightmare. Maybe we’ll wake up in a bathroom stall… and we were just rolling on ecstasy. I do enough drugs anyway. This is just a hallucination." His bottom lip trembled and he melted against me again, shaking. I held him close for a few minutes, crying with him.

I looked up at him and smiled reassuringly. Surprisingly, he returned it before running his fingers along my cheek. I let his lips trace my jaw line, and after a few seconds, I felt his tongue moving across my bottom lip.

“Conor…” I gasped, feeling his lips connect with mine in a wet, unexpected kiss. A few seconds had passed when I pulled away and stared at him. He bit his lip and apologized over and over, going on about how fucked up he was feeling. I shook my head and sighed, slipping my arms around his neck. And, even though it seems impossible, he laughed.

“Nellie, I noticed something,” He said, still smiling. "You're kind of pretty."

“You're an asshole.” I shook my head before pulling his mouth against mine again. He let out a small whimper of surprise before closing his eyes and giving in. I felt his tongue prodding mine, his hands slipping up my shirt to feel my bare skin.

In that very moment, we both forgot about his parents, Violet, the tragedy at hand… it seemed like we were the only two people in the universe. His big hands explored me and touched me, spreading warmth throughout my entire body. For a minute, it felt like it actually was a dream. Everything that had ever bothered me about him all the sudden made him even more beautiful.

“Conor! Nellie!”

We broke apart at the sound of Corinne’s voice. We were back in the dark, dismal garden of the hospital, and memories of earlier that day hit us like a sack of bricks. I sighed and looked at the ground, holding Conor’s hand tightly.

“I think we should be going now.” Mark avoided Conor’s eyes.

“Your phone’s been vibrating a lot, Nellie. I think your parents are worried about you. It’s pretty late, you know.” Violet said, holding back a smile. What a slut. Conor’s grip on my hand tightened and his forehead wrinkled in frustration. Reluctantly we followed everyone to the car and got in quietly, not saying a word to each other. I climbed into the very back of their minivan and sat there, keeping as quiet as I could. Conor sat next to me and pulled the seat up, preventing Violet from sitting near us. She stuck her tongue out at him and put on her seatbelt, glancing back at us every few seconds.

I noticed Conor pulling his phone out to text someone. Maybe he was talking to some other people about what had happened. A few seconds later, my phone buzzed and I read the message. Surprise, surprise. It was from Conor. The message read, “Thanks for everything, Nell. I think I would die without you here.”

I smiled at him before replying with a simple “No problemo.”

And to that, he said, “You wanna sleep over or something tonight?”

“Well, do you think your parents would let me after what they witnessed?”

He chuckled and everyone looked at him. He had broken the silence. Violet widened her eyes suspiciously before turning back to the front as Conor picked up his phone and began to type another message. “Nellie, my parents love you. Watching us make out won’t change anything. I’m a guy. We do these things.”

I frowned. “So it didn’t mean anything?”

He raised an eyebrow and looked at me. I shrugged and turned towards the window, showing him I didn’t want to continue this conversation. A few seconds later, I felt his hand rubbing my inner thigh. I turned to him to shoot him a look of protest, only to be cut off by another peck on the lips. I smiled at him before moving closer and hugging him close. He sent me another message. “I just thought of something.”

“Ha, I hate it when you say that. Is it another thing to add to the dubstep shower?”

“Hahahahahaha… no. Alright, you ready for it?”

“Yep!”

“I…”

“COME ON.”

“I'm hungry!"

I sighed. “Biggest waste of time EVER!” I yelled at him, not bothering to use my phone anymore. He clapped his hands loudly.

“What did you expect?” He exclaimed. I laughed and shoved him playfully. Violet stared at us along with Conor’s parents. We smiled and waved meekly before communicating in made up sign-language. Once we pulled up to my driveway, I climbed out of the car along with Conor, who walked me to the door. Before I could open the door, his soft hands grabbed my waist.

“Thanks Nellie.” He said shyly. “I guess today wasn’t all bad.”

I blushed before leaning in to hug him. I glanced over to see Violet peeking her head out of the car, shaking her head while holding back her loud and annoying laugh. I jokingly gave her the middle finger before pulling away from Conor and saying goodbye one last time.

“Text me, okay? Please?”

“Alright. Well, you better go.”

He nodded and started down the stairs. Halfway to the car, he turned back to me. I laughed and urged him to continue.

“Hey, uh… let's hang out tomorrow." He scratched his head awkwardly.

"I think your family needs some space." I shrugged, leaning against the doorframe.

"I don't want to be alone. I wish I was pregnant or something. Because then I would never be alone. Ever." He sighed, walking back up to me. "Are you sure you can't just hide in the back of my car and watch 'Say Yes to the Dress' with me tonight?"

I groaned and pushed my door open. "Goodnight, Conor."

"Want to go hide in your backyard? I don't want to get back into the car with Violet." He whined, glancing back at her.

Violet poked her head out the window from behind him. "I heard that, Conor! You know I hold your life in the palm of my hand! I will easily crush it!"

Conor groaned and trudged back to the car reluctantly. "Bye, Nellie." I nodded at him before walking inside, trying to keep Molly off my mind.