Jones St., Chapter 8: Pages 15-16
Page 15, 6 Panels- Hallway, Cashman Field, Las Vegas NV
Panel 1: We move to an interior shot of the stadium, taken from one of the hallways leading out to the seated area. In the center-left area of the rush of fans dressed in 51's gear, we see Melanie and Tara standing next to each other making their way to their seats; their positioning in the scene similar to the captions at the end of the previous page (Melanie to the left, Tara to the right with an energy bar at 70%).
MELANIE [glancing at Tara, listening to him; confused/curious]: What are you humming? TARA [explanatory, to Melanie]: "I'm Me." MELANIE [Bubble 2]: Never heard of it.
Panel 2: Close-up on Mr. Myers a few moments later. He glances over from where he's walking in Melanie's direction. The background behind him is the same type of varied smattering of fandom that we saw in the previous panel, along with part of a pillar holding up the hallway.
TARA [calmly]: It's a song from a cartoon called "Phineas and Ferb." I watched it religiously as a kid--still do, honestly. I hum songs from the show, sometimes sing them. It helps relax me in situations like this, with a lot of people around. TARA [Bubble 2]: It's okay. I--I'll be okay, I think.
Panel 3: We shift to a shot of the right to Melanie a moment later; an entrance toward one of the sections in the ballpark visible behind her in the background. She flashes a curious eyebrow in regards to the last part of Mr. Myers' statement.
MELANIE: Oh sorry. I would've chosen a little less loud place for the date if I'd known...you gonna be okay? MELANIE [Bubble 2]: So, how is cartoon music relaxing to you, if I may ask?
Panel 4-5: Back to Tara in the same setting/layout as Panel 2. He shrugs and gives a brief smirk that appears on the left side of his face; his eyes glancing away from Ms. Haynes and back down toward the ground area. In Panel 5, moments later and in the same positioning layout wise, you can see his eyes gloss over with a touch of emotion hidden in the context of the memory that pops up.
TARA [Panel 4]: I'm not sure, it just... TARA [Cont., Panel 5]: It reminds me of my mom.
Panel 6: Back to Melanie in the same type of setup as Panel 3; the raised eyebrow settles back down, though the curiosity is still visible in her eyes as she speaks. You can see the entrance out to the section of the stadium that was in the background of that aforementioned panel start to come into brighter focus, along with the night sky and part of the right centerfield section of the field.
MELANIE: You never talked about your mom before.
Page 16, 5 Panels- Cashman Field, Las Vegas NV
Panel 1: Back to Tara a moment later, shifting over to walk toward Ms. Haynes' position (given that she had taken the slight lead in the walk). He looks over with the same type of emotion that was on display to his last appearance in Panel 5 of the previous page, but heightened by a few degrees.
TARA [holding it back, to Melanie]: She...she died of cancer, when I was in high school. It's not really something I talk about easily.
Panel 2: Cut to Melanie standing in front of the tunnel entrance to the section of the ballpark where their seats are; the setting and layout similar to the end of the previous page. She's taken aback by the exclamation, showing a similar level of empathy and sadness to his plight given what the young woman has gone through.
MELANIE [to Tara]: Oh, I'm--I'm so sorry, T. How old was she? MELANIE [Bubble 2]: Shit!
Panel 3: Back to Tara in mid-stride this time toward his date off-panel, wiping away the trickle of a tear that was coming down his face at the end of Panel 1. He gives Melanie a reassuring smile to defuse the tension before it dampers the date as a whole.
TARA: 42. TARA [Bubble 2]: Yeah...I like to think she'd like you, if the two of you ever met.
Panel 4-5: A two-part set of panels that moves to a shot from the exterior of the tunnel, showing the young couple as they emerge and make their way to their seats by the time we reach Panel 5. You can see the other people either going to their seats or talking to each other before the game's first pitch. Outside the margins of both panels, you can also see the spirit of Tanya looking down at this scene, nodding with loving approval and a beaming smile in Panel 5.