Jones St., Chapter 8: Pages 21-22
Page 21, 6 Panels- Mystery Diner
Panel 1: Cut to the entrance to the diner as the music continues playing. The glass doors open up, and we see Melanie enter the area dressed in the same outfit that she had on back at the ballpark. You can see a random cityscape outside in the background, though it's not connected with any type of real-life comparable.
Panel 2: We move to an over-the-shoulder shot of the young woman moments later, noticing Tara dancing alone to the same music as before. You can see the counter to the left of the panel view, along with the jukebox to the right of the young man in the background.
Panel 3: Cut to a close-up of Melanie's face a second later, flashing a smile in sight of the young man that is tinged with a little degree of unease at the same time. Outside of the panel, you can see Henry looking down at the scene with a smile of his own that is wider and filled with great love.
Panel 4-6: A three-part set of panels that focuses on the two of them moving closer and closer with each panel; the song changing slowly but surely from "People Are Strange" to "Absolute Beginners" (aka the song that sparked Henry and Melanie's relationship back in Chapter 1). In Panels 4 and 5, we see Henry hanging around outside the panel boundaries, watching as the two of them grow closer and closer before slowly disappearing by the time we reach Panel 6. As for Tara and Melanie, they stop only a few feet away from one another as the song continues on.
HENRY [to Melanie, though she doesn't know it; Panel 4]: I like the guy- he's like a real-life Ash. True, he's a little space cadet-y at times, but...there's a good light to the guy. HENRY [Cont.; Panel 4, Bubble 2]: Don't stress over the Asexual thing. he's...he's just what ya need right now. HENRY [Panel 5]: You're like a leaf in the wind now... MELANIE [to Tara, happy; Panel 5]: I had a great time tonight. HENRY [Cont., Panel 6]: Time to soar! (Though I'm certain you already know that). Love you, Mels... TARA [nodding agreement, to Tara; Panel 6]: Me too...
Page 22, 6 Panels- Mystery Diner/Outside Melanie's Apartment Building, Las Vegas NV
Panel 1: Same setting/layout as the last panel of the previous page. For the first time here, we see the interior setting of the dream diner that was prominent in Page 21 starting to change in the background as the two of them talk, seemingly oblivious to the aforementioned change back to reality.
MELANIE [Cont. looks around her, reacting at the music; to Tara]: This your doing? TARA [shakes his head, to Melanie]: I do not have that level of skilled flirtation. That was...Pandora helping out.
Panel 2: Same setting/layout as the previous panel. As was the case in Panel 1, you can see the setting start to change to a level that is partially the mystery diner and partially the front gate to Melanie's apartment building that we saw a few chapters earlier. Tara has his phone out and is glancing over at the screen as he speaks.
TARA [Cont., playful smirk]: Along with a considerable amount of Rom-Com Luck. MELANIE: "Rom-Com Luck?"
Panel 3-4: A two-part set of panels that continue on the same setting and layout as the previous panel. In Panel 3, the background behind them goes through the last bit of transitional change before fully showing off the front gate entrance to Melanie's building in full. It's also here in Panel 4 that we see the song officially start to end.
TARA [Cont., Panel 3]: It's when weird coincidental things happen with zero reason or logic behind it, except to bring the two lovebirds together. Like Colin in "Love Actually" meeting three sorority women minutes after arriving in Wisconsin who all want to have sex with him, even though he's basically a steaming human dumpster fire. TARA [Panel 3, Bubble 2]: (I've...had a lotta time thinking about this). MELANIE [understanding the idea, Panel 3]: I think I get it. It's kinda like The Bachelor or Flavor of Love, with decent women fighting over a classless, uninteresting idiot... TARA [pondering/nodding, Panel 4]: ...Basically, yeah.
Panel 5: Cut to a close-up of Melanie's face a second later. Her body language displaying the feeling of someone who doesn't want to accidentally say a dumb thing right now. You can see a section of the sidewalk behind her in the background, including the glow of a streetlight nearby.
MELANIE: There's something I meant to ask about the Asexual thing. Was there a moment that you knew specifically that you were Asexual? Or was it just something you knew from birth? MELANIE [Bubble 2; reacting to Panel 6, Bubble 1]: Makes sense. So...how do you plan on ending this lovely date?
Panel 6: Cut to a close-up of Tara's face a few beats later; his gaze split between the phone (now off-panel in his pocket) and Ms. Haynes. With the music off for a brief moment, he goes through a period of good anxiety that comes over him as he finishes the last train of thought.
TARA [thinking, reacting to Panel 5, Bubble 1]: A bit of both, I guess. There wasn't a specific moment I knew I was Ace. But subconsciously, I--there was probably a part of me that knew and just...needed to be pointed in the direction of the term. TARA [reacting to Panel Bubble 2]: I've got an idea...