She ran overto shut the dark girl up but it was too late. The secret was out and nowAriel, who wasn't ready for more news, had stared at her son. Once...againit was silent save for the pitiful sniffling of Lea. Before long Arielhad simply left the room without a word and the tears were full force.Lea beat her fists against Cocoa, yelling about how mean she was and howshe hated her.Cocoa kissed Lea quiet and brought her into a tight hug. "She needed toknow, Lollipop. Now you don't have to sneak. . Running blind... A smile touched Angie's lips at the song. Her I-Pod was set to her marathon mix and had been playing random tunes from it for the past three and three quarter hours. Most of the songs were about running and all of them were chosen to keep her focused and alive. Not every song had "run" in the title but most did. The Jackson Browne tune playing at the moment was one of Angie's favorites. The mix also included "I Run for Life" by Melissa Etheridge, "Running down a Dream" by Tom. The furniture, the floor, the walls and the ceiling were from the same wood, nondescript, dark, sturdy, stained. This was our room. For the whole voyage, except for one occasion, one that I would have preferred to avoid, this was where I stayed, to where I was confined.“Three lessons you will have to learn,” my father told me, after we had come aboard and settled into our cabin — three lessons, three skills I needed to possess, before becoming the wife, if only temporarily, of the most powerful. Monica showed them the ring, and they'd figured it was something like that that brought us over today.After the hugging and congratulations, Monica told them she needed to talk to them about something else. I took a hint, and took the girls outside to play while Monica and her in-laws made their peace. I was surprised when five minutes later, a grinning Monica appeared in the front door and beckoned us back inside. With the girls seated in front of Mrs. Greene, I figured she wanted to talk to.