Jed: During Reception

Okay, so I'm not entirely happy with this. And I need some more meat to the last conversation between Jed and Danny. I'd appreciate it if you guys could give me some suggestions for what else they could chit chat about.

Jed was hiding behind one of the ivy covered brick pillars, sucking on a freezy

pop. Her lips were currently tinted blue and were in the process of turning red. Emily was offering her an entire box of freezy pops if Jed kept out of trouble and stuck to the back of all rooms, but Jed was starting to get impatient. A freezy pop can keep you entertained for only so long, you know. Jed looked down at her Mickey Mouse watch. Mickey had a large smile, and his two arms were crossed in a position that seemed to be quite uncomfortable.

She barely noticed when her mother briskly walked out into view. There was someone else out there. He was a tall, muscular man with a clean shaven face and short brown hair. There was some hushed talking on her mother’s part, a confused look on the stranger’s face. Now things were getting more interesting for Jed.

“Do you remember anything at all?” Emily asked, sounding frustrated. The guy shifted his weight to the other foot, taking a moment to think.

“Oh yeah! You’re the chick who dropped those hot garlic mashed potatoes on my crotch!” he said, his face brightening with realization. In contrast to him, Emily’s face fell, with an expression of complete disbelief.

“Are you serious?!” her voice had gone up an octave or two and cracked mid sentence.

“No drunken night comes to your mind from ten years ago? No drunken night 7 months later? Does the phrase: ‘Here’s twenty dollars. Buy a nice house for you and kid’ ring a bell at all?!”

Jed had begun to tune herself out once more. This stuff was getting boring, and she had no idea what her mother was talking about, or how she knew this man. The conversation went on longer. It seemed to get more heated, more frustrated and confusing.

“You have a nine year old daughter in this world, and I think it’s high time you come into her life!” Emily’s voice was a deadly hiss as she jabbed her finger into his chest. He winced, and rubbed his sore spot as Emily stomped back to the reception. Her aura said: death to anyone who talked to her.

Jed was frantically sucking on plastic now, her juicy ice long gone. Her eyes were wide as she stared at this man who was… her dad?

“What does mom mean by ‘drunken nights’?” Jed suddenly asked, her voice slightly scratchy from lack of use. The man turned around to look at her, and his eyes widened. His mouth formed silent words as he stared at Jed, and Jed stared back at him. Jed made it into a staring contest. And he was good at not blinking. It was just a question really. She didn’t understand why he took so long.

“H-hey kiddo.” He said, the words rolling off his tongue awkwardly. “What’s your name?”

“Jed Corey Garrison. I was born on January 29^th. And I like freezy pops,” she said, producing the mangled plastic.

“Danny Kingler. My birthday is August 7^th. I like bee- erm... I like soda.”

Jed looked up at the Danny. It was an awkward silence between them, but Jed seemed oblivious to it. She inserted her freezy pop wrapper back in her mouth, grinding it between her molars.

“So… what are you doing to keep yourself entertained?” Danny asked her eventually.

“I watch Mickey.” Jed showed him her watch. Danny cleared his throat a couple of times. He scratched the back of his, sighing several other times.

“They are… the Father-Daughter song is playing.” He said and Jed smiled. He had freckles across his nose, just like her. Her mom didn’t have any freckles.

“Do you want me to be your dad tonight?” he asked, and Jed nodded her head.

“Does it have to be just tonight?” she asked, and Danny shrugged.

“Maybe not. Maybe I can be your daddy tomorrow too. We’ll have to look into that.”

“Okay. But I don’t know how to dance.”

”Daddy will teach you.”