The CONquest of Nellie Bly

Conor texted me right as I had gotten into my bedroom. It was just a simple “Hey.” I shook my head and quickly replied with the exact same generic “Hey… how are you?” I pulled an oversized t-shirt on and brushed my teeth, awaiting his response. My phone buzzed and I quickly opened the message while using my other hand to switch off the light.

“I’m okay, I guess. I want Violet out of this god damn car. She’s just been staring at me for the past few minutes and it’s getting annoying. We’re almost to her house though… I think she should have walked or something.”

I laughed and clicked the random letters as I sat on my bed. “Yeah, she should have. Anyway, how are your parents?”

“Quiet. Just quiet.” Even from so far away, I could kind of hear his voice.

A tear slid down my cheek and I wiped it away. It was time to change the subject. Right as I started to write the new message, my phone vibrated again. This time it was from Violet. I ignored it and Conor shot me another text a few minutes later telling me about how he was going to be sleeping in his parents’ room for the first time since he was seven.

“Conor, I’m sorry I can’t be there.”

“You kind of are. We just got home and I found one of your bras behind my piano.”

“…That’s kinky. But why are you at your piano? Shouldn’t you be in bed or something?” I giggled and climbed under the sheets, shifting until I was comfortable.

“Is it a crime to write songs after you had a shitty day?” I pictured him sitting at his piano just playing until his fingers broke. After all, that’s what he did when we had our first fight in sixth grade. He came to school the next day with a four-minute apology song he wrote then recorded on a tape recorder.

"I guess not. Well, I'm tired. Goodnight, Conor." I buried my face in my pillow and closed my eyes. I was almost asleep when my phone vibrated a couple times. I groaned and picked it up. This time it was a phone call. I answered slowly, rubbing my eyes.

"Nellie?" It was Violet. I sighed and turned my phone off, just wanting to get some sleep. Finally I was able to drift off and get about two hours of sleep.



I woke up the next morning to the sound of a guitar next to me. I rolled over and saw Conor standing there in his Christmas reindeer pajamas holding Mamacita. I blinked a couple times and pulled the pillow over my head. He sat next to me and plucked a few strings.

“Any requests?” He asked.

“Yeah. Go home, Conor.”

“Ah, that’s a good one.” He played a random tune and looked up at me for approval. I rolled my eyes and turned away from him. “Jealous? Anyway, I’m still working on the song I’m trying to learn for you. It’s not ready yet, sorry.” He said, strumming a couple random chords.

"And what song might that be?" I asked, not looking back at him.

He grinned and began singing ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine.’ I smiled, seeing this was, of course, the best song ever. It was really rough—he’d play the wrong chords, forget the words; but to me, it sounded even better than the original.

I smiled at him when he finished. “Uh, I guess that’s good enough.” He grinned. “But I learned something for you on the piano, too, so… yeah. But that's gonna be a surprise. Anyway, Violet called me like fifty times last night.”

“Did you answer?”

“Of course not. I hate that woman so much at the moment.” He buried his face in my hair. “Jason called a couple of times last night, too. I’m pretty sure Violet told him some stuff. I didn’t answer him either. So when I woke up ten minutes ago, my first instinct was to come over and talk to you. I’m really not in the mood to see anyone.”

I propped myself up on one elbow and smiled at him. “So why exactly are you here if you don’t want to see anyone?”

“Because I wanted to see you. You’re the only person I can tolerate. Is that a problem? I can leave if you want me to.”

“No, no. Stay. But I just wanna know… how did you even get here so fast if you just got out of bed ten minutes ago?”

A little grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I drove.”

“Who gave you a ride?”

“I drove myself here.”

I stared at him, completely confused. “You usually walk. Your house is just around the corner.”

“Well, I needed to get here ASAP. And Violet told me that if I knew how to drive better…” He trailed off and looked away. “So I got in my dad’s car and drove over here super cautiously.” The sad face was replaced with a look of pride—the same look he had on when he had played “Bohemian Rhapsody” on the piano flawlessly.

“You’re cute,” I giggled sarcastically, nudging him playfully. He chuckled and pulled my face close to his. After staring into my eyes for a second or two, he leaned in and melted against me, our lips meeting once again. It took me a second or two to realize what was happening. My inner Violet took over and I pushed him off me, wiping my mouth with the back of my free hand.

He looked at me, bewildered. “What was that?”

“I should ask you the same question.” I said, my voice shaking. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Um, exactly what I did last night. You obviously didn’t have a problem with it then,” He said defensively. “Why are you freaking out now?”

“It… it doesn’t feel right.”

“But it felt right to me,” He muttered, his bottom lip trembling. “Seriously, are you okay?”

“No, it didn’t feel right to you, either. We’re just all really confused and irritable at this junction in life, and you may think you’re feeling something, but you’re not. Tomorrow, we’ll be sitting out on top of Lucy talking about how nasty this entire incident was.”

He took a deep breath. “Okay. Maybe you’re right. As always. Of course.” He threw up his hands. “Listen, Nellie. When something like this happens to someone, their thoughts and feelings aren’t nullified, they’re amplified. I think I am quite aware of what’s going through my head. I’m not completely numb yet. In fact, I’m just the opposite.”

“I know, Conor. Remember when my dog died?”

“This isn’t a dog we’re talking about, this is my sister!” He yelled. I bit my lip and turned away from him, not wanting to piss him off even more. “She was a living, breathing person. And what pisses me off is the fact your fucking dog lived longer than she did!” He looked at the ground.

I didn’t say anything. He moved towards me. “We have her memorial service tomorrow. Do you know how bad this is gonna hurt? People coming up to me every ten seconds and trying to comfort me? They can’t bring me comfort. They’re just going to preach to me about how it was the lord’s way or whatever. It won’t help. I failed her. I could have been there to call 911 when this happened.” His voice cracked and he rested his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t you feel anything, Nellie? She was your sister, too.”

I turned to him. “Conor, I hate life as much as you do.”

“It doesn’t show.” He snapped.

We stood there and glared at each other for a few minutes. Finally, I spoke. “This is the first fight we’ve had since sixth grade.” I pointed out, sitting on my bed. “I’m gonna go back to sleep. I’m tired.” I pulled the covers over myself and rolled over so I wasn’t facing him. After a minute of silence, I felt him sit next to me.

“Can I sleep with you? I’m kind of tired, too.” He asked shyly.

“Go ahead.” I shrugged, closing my eyes. He slipped in next to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, securing my body against his. I smiled softly.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, nuzzling my shoulder.

I chuckled and flipped back over, fingering the embroidered reindeer on his pajamas. "You know, I can't really take you seriously in these."

"You could never take me seriously anyway." He giggled.

"You're right."