Jones St., Chapter 2: Pages 1-2
Page 1, 5 Panels- Tara's Bedroom, Days Later, Las Vegas NV
Panel 1: Cut to a shot of a Galaxy smartphone resting on a counter; the wood visible all around in the background. We see 8:20 A.M. in big white letters, and 4/11/2017 underneath that in a smaller font, all in front of a wallpaper with a classic Victorian quill and parchment on it. You can hear the sound of bells ringing as the "Alarm" notification pops up on top of the screen.
CAPTION: Routine- Wake up between 8 and 9 A.M. NARRATOR [caption, underneath the phone]: Now we turn to the other half of this unique love story. A young man and native of the city by the name of Tara Myers- a dreamer in a time that lacks them severely with some mental disadvantages, though a good heart--
Panel 2: Same setting/layout as the previous panel. A few moments later, we see a hand and arm come into view from off-panel right, blocking view of the time and date to the reader in order to shut the alarm off at that moment. You can see what appears to be a pair of bracelets on the hand, one with green stones and another with white stones.
TARA [caption, to the Narrator]: Gracias for the compliment, but I can take care of the rest of the intro from here, omnipotent narrator guy. I'm the one that spends most of my time in my own head. It only makes sense... NARRATOR [caption 2, to Tara]: Fair enough...all yours, Mr. Myers.
Panel 3: Action shot showing TARA MYERS getting out of bed. He's a skinny bean of a fellow in his late 20s with short/thinning and messy dark hair and green eyes, wearing a black shirt with H.G. Wells' face emblazoned on it. You can see a little slice of the bedroom around him, including posters of Daredevil and a cover of the Time Machine on the wall. You can also see, perched above his left shoulder, an energy bar ala ‘90s video games that is already at 95% at this point; a feature that remains near him for the remainder of the issue.
TARA [narration caption]: As the narrator guy said, the name's Tara. Let me just get right on with it, since I don't really see any shame in it- I'm autistic. I was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome (which is a high functioning Autism, to those who may not know) when I was in high school. Mainly because it took some time for my parents to afford to go through the testing.
Panel 4-5: A two-part set of panels that start out with him walking along the side of the bed toward the front of it, letting out a yawn as he finds his spot. Then, in Panel 5, he sits down with his eyes closed in a cross-legged pose, set for meditation with the rest of the bedroom visible behind him in the background.
TARA [Cont. caption, Panel 4]: But really, it was something that I've long known since I was...maybe 7 or 8 years old. TARA [Cont. caption, Panel 5]: Getting others to get that type of understanding though...that was a whole other kettle of fish. CAPTION [Panel 5]: Routine- Morning Meditation, followed by 10 minute long shower/shave
Page 2, 6 Panels- Flashbacks/Bookstore, Various School Settings/Present Day Las Vegas
Panel 1: We open with a shot of a young teen's face, representing one of the people that Tara knew back in high school. A fairly common looking popular girl with red hair wearing what was considered to be fashionable around the mid-to-late 2000's. There's a noticeable look of surprise on her face mixed with confusion as she speaks.
TARA [narration caption]: Some of them thought I didn't look autistic enough. PERSON #1: Are you sure? Maybe you're just really shy...
Panel 2: Cut to another similarly laid out shot as the first one. This time, it takes place in a lunchroom with a guy in a hippie-looking outfit reacting with a slightly more positive demeanor than in Panel 1. You can see the shadows of a handful of people in the background sitting and chatting at the other tables in eyesight.
TARA [Cont. narration caption]: Some of them thought I was Rain Man and would bug me for help with schoolwork. PERSON #2: Cool...You mind helping me with my Social Studies homework? TARA [Cont. narration caption 2]: Not much can annoy me, but that--that definitely does the job! Especially since I'm not a bloody genius, just a normal nerd with an abnormal nerdy brain. But I digress...
Panel 3-5: A three-part set of panels that follows a similar type of format, albeit with one change. It composes of a series of action shots that focus on young Tara at different points in high school, dealing with the different kinds of people that he describes in each panel. In Panel 3, we see a bully mocking him behind his back as he walks away down one of the hallways. In Panel 4, it's a group of people outside on the sidewalk who looks on with silent judgment at his fashion choices as he walks to work on a cold day (shorts and a vest over a T-shirt). And in Panel 5, we move to an interior shot of the bookstore in present day later that morning with a sparse amount of foot traffic.
TARA [narration caption, Panel 3]: There were also your standard judgmental pissants that populated high school who made fun of me wearing a vest all the time (helps me deal with people without going full Chernobyl, or full Void)... TARA [Cont. narration caption, Panel 4]: Which continued on once I started working full-time at my parents' bookstore, the EPB Bookstore. TARA [narration caption, Panel 5]: Thankfully, I've also met some good and understanding people when I've told them about my condition. They've definitely made things a little bit more bearable in the grand scheme of things (thank you Social Media).
Panel 6: Cut to a shot of Mr. Myers standing behind the cashier's desk a few moments later. He's dressed in a nice looking light brown vest with a Daredevil T-shirt on; his nametag pinned to the right side of the vest. He looks on at the crowd, holding a little zip drive and twirling it in his right hand.
TARA [narration caption]: Alongside a good old fashioned stim, of course. CAPTION [pointing to him holding the zip drive]: Vents anxiety during the workday...makes it bearable. TARA [narration caption 2]: In terms of the "deeper than friendship" and the "other A-Word" stuff though...