Page 2 of To Have and To Hold

She turned the corner and played with her scarf, making sure her neck was covered. Her smile widened when she saw Zahara there waiting, who smiled in return when Coco approached their row of lockers. Zahara shifted on her sneakers, wearing her signature overalls and t-shirt, as she pushed her glasses up onto her nose and tossed her curly dark hair behind her.

Zahara was the youngest student in Coco’s chemistry class. She was highly gifted, fifteen to her eighteen, and was one of her best friends, along with Jackie. Even though Zahara was young, they let her hang out with them during school hours and sometimes on the weekends when they were having a PJ-and-Pamper night at Coco’s place.

As she approached Zahara, the young girl vibrated with excitement. “Are you ready for our chemistry exam this afternoon?”

Coco showed her the chemistry textbook as she spun the dial on her locker combination. Both Coco and Zahara lovedchemistry, and they had bonded over the fact that they wanted to produce skin care products of their own for women and men. Coco especially wanted to produce more skin and hair products for people of color especially because there were not that many products out there created by black people for black people.

“So, my mom was at me again yesterday.” Zahara sighed. Her sneakers squeaked against the linoleum floor as she dragged her feet.

“Still wants you to study medicine? Have you told her you want to apply to take chemical engineering when you graduate from here?” Coco shoved her book in her locker and grabbed an extra pen and pencil for her classes.

“I have been trying, but she is not listening.” Zahara’s voice sounded hurt.

Coco glanced at her friend and pulled her into a loose hug. “Keep trying, don’t ever give up on something that you want.” She gave Zahara a squeeze and felt her return the gesture, before pulling away and tugging at the scarf.

“Thanks Coco. I am, but my mom and dad are determined that I become a doctor, I would be the first in the family and I don’t want to let them down. Maybe if I do what they want, they will let me find my older sister, Selena. Have you seen the latest picture of her? I wish I looked more like her; she is so beautiful.” Zahara took out a picture she’d tucked into the pages of her textbook, waving the torn page of the magazineHigh Fashionin Coco’s face.

Coco took the torn-out page and studied it. She regarded the beautiful black model with hazel eyes staring back at her, peeking over the name-brand sunglasses she was wearing while on a deck chair, next to a shimmering pool, a gorgeous male model leaning close to her, offering her a drink in his hand.

Zahara was right, her sister was a stunner, but Coco knew Zahara would be too one day, once she fully developed into the body that Coco could already see was going to be voluptuous. Just like hers, except Coco had a lot of junk in her trunk to go along with a respectable chest.

Zahara grabbed the paper back and sighed again. As she ran her similar hazel eyes over the picture, she then glanced at Coco, eyeing the outfit she was wearing today: a pressed white-button, long-sleeved top and pressed jeans, with a blue and orange scarf around her neck and orange low-heeled flats. On her face was pressed dark powder for her skin tone, mascara, and orange lipstick. The makeup she had put on while taking the bus to school. Her parents were strict and didn’t think she needed to wear makeup until she was twenty.

“Both you and my sister have impeccable taste and style when dressing. While I always look like I threw on whatever was in my closet.”

Coco smiled. “Because that is exactly what you do.”

Zahara returned the smile, then her eyes widened when they glanced at a spot on Coco’s neck, where her scarf was supposed to be covering.

“What?” Coco moved to the mirror that hung in her locker. Just as she saw what Zahara was seeing, the girl blurted out, “Is that a hickey!”

“Hush-hush.” Coco rushed to move the scarf into a better position to cover the dark mark on her already dark skin.

“Is that from Colin?” Zahara moved closer to her friend. Looking at her like she was a god.

She flushed as she remembered how she got it. They were supposed to be studying as she was his tutor, but insteadof studying science and anatomy for his final exam, Colin had wanted to study her. As usual, she couldn’t stay focused on their lessons when Colin took off his shirt and his muscles rippled in front of her; her knees would go weak when he flashed his dimples and looked at her longingly with his deep blue eyes. The curly red hair sweeping across his forehead that she loved to run her hands through, and she loved to dance her fingertips along the freckles on his shoulder blades.

He was tall and thick and played defence for the Ryerson High hockey team, and will also be trying out for his last year in triple A division when school was done, but right now he was getting low marks in his courses, especially science and English.

Everyone thought Colin’s first and only love was hockey, but during their study sessions he opened up to her and said he really wanted to become a chef, that he’d discovered his passion when he’d taken a home economics course at school. He began to take private cooking lessons in his downtime and loved to bake and try out new recipes on her and his siblings when they were at his grandfather’s home instead of the library.

Colin had baked homemade Cinnabons for their study session and when she took a bite and the moans emanated from her throat, Colin pounced. Studying had gone out the window as they’d fooled around in the basement where they used for privacy from his older brother who was barely home to the twins that worship their middle brother. She even met his half-brothers that would come to visit on the weekends.

They were seven sons’ born to Brock Fairchild Norris II, the last three being from different women. Colin had told her about his father’s broken heart and that when his mother died shortly after giving birth to the twins, it had destroyed his father, and his father had checked out from caring for his older children and seemed to want to forget or find his deceased wife in the bedof others. His voice sounded bitter as he talked. The hurt in his expression made her want to take all the pain away.

His father was barely at home, and they had a live in-house assistant that took care of them during the school year. They all spent their summers with their grandfather and grandmother at the cottage or in the Hamptons.

On the outside, it looked like the Norris’s had it all, but you never knew what someone was going through at home and she felt lucky that even though her parents could be strict at times, she came from a loving and caring home.

When they would finish working on his homework together, she would just relax in his arms and watch TV with him. She’d never felt this close to someone and their make-out sessions always made her wet and wanting more, but she’d didn’t want to give up her virginity until she was sure about it and when the time was right for her. She’d even thought about saving it for marriage.

Last night, she had almost given in, Colin had her so wet as he fingered her and sucked on her clit. She would allow him everything except for penetration. She had orgasmed and then he’d moved up her body to her neck as she gripped and pumped his hard cock until he came into her hand. He had been sucking so hard on her neck; she’d come again a second time.

He'd pulled away and help to clean her up and kissed her all the way to the door, where their driver was waiting in the driveway to take her home.

When she got home, she checked her phone, as he liked to leave her messages that had her blushing or her heart melting. She felt they were getting closer and closer, and she knew he was falling hard for her as she was for him.

Coco had been surprised when no messages were sent to her phone and assumed he must have been tired and crashed when she left his house.

---