I made my way to an empty seat in the middle of the second back row of chairs. Ideally, I would have just stood at the back of the room, but there were people ushering everyone to sit down on any seat that was available so that was what I did. I ended up being wedged between two stocky men. I was thankful when the ceremony began a couple of minutes later. The lights in the hall were suddenly dimmed and a hush spread across the room. A projector switched on and on the back wall of the room, a film began to play.
“Hi, everyone!” A blond-haired girl wearing black-framed glasses appeared waving happily. “Thank you for coming along today to celebrate the wonderful career our dear Mr Jones has had during his forty-two years at Sir John Leman High School. My name is Sarah Marks. I’m a sixth former and I’m also the student who has been lucky enough to be selected to record and edit this short film for our lovely Mr Jones. I want to quickly thank every student, past and present, and each staff member who appears in the film because without you guys, we wouldn’t get to show just how special Mr Jones is and how happy we are for him to start the next chapter of his life. I think everyone will agree that no man deserves to put his feet up more than him. This is for you, Mr Jones.”
Instant applause filled the hall then it died down as Dr Jones by Aqua began to lowly play in the background of the film, making everyone chuckle. A roll of clips of Mr Jones throughout the years began to play and one thing that stood out was just how happy he was and how big the smiles were on the kids’ faces around him. It wasn’t all games and laughter though; there was a clip of a boy who looked down in one of the school’s hallways and Mr Jones kneeled in front of him, talking to him before giving the student a hug and pulling a smile from him as he wiped his eyes. It showed the ups and downs that the counsellor of a school had but in the end, everything always ended in a smile.
I was smiling happily until my teenage face popped up onto the projected image on the wall, followed by Risk, May and Hayes as they played on their instruments in Mr Jones’s office sometime during our last year at school. Students, and some parents, whooped and cheered before being shushed. There was audio with this clip and normally I would look away or run away, but I was trapped where I was and found that once I saw Risk, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him. My heart jumped when teenage Risk leaned over and kissed my cheek, my younger self smiled and looked at him like he was the only boy in the whole world as he sang his rendition of ‘The Way You Look Tonight’. I could hear the teenage girls up front sigh dreamingly from my spot at the back of the hall.
I hadn’t thought of that day since before Risk and I broke up, but watching it on film made it all come rushing back to me and I could remember it like it was yesterday. It was after school had ended, the guys and Mr Jones were waiting for the room that doubled as the music room to be cleaned by the caretakers and while they waited they sat in Mr Jones’s office. I popped in to say hello, and goodbye, because I had to go straight to work since I just landed my first job at Mary Well’s diner as a part-time waitress. Risk had asked me to wait a minute and he sang his version of the song to me. It was the best part of my day.
As Risk finished the song, I gave him a big kiss then got up just as a younger Mr Jones said, “Ew, can you both, like, not do that in front of me? Thanks.”
The hall burst into laughter, but I couldn’t move.
“Is that you?”
I jolted when the man on my right whispered his question.
“Me?” I shook my head. “No way.”
“Huh.” The man looked back at the projected screen. “Looks like you.”
I said nothing further and neither did the man.
The film switched back to Sarah Marks approaching several children and as she asked them to answer the same question. Each answer was different from the last and it made me choke up a little because each word used was exactly the word to describe Mr Jones. It made my heart happy to know that he was beloved by students now just as much as he was when I was in school.
“Describe Mr Jones in one word . . . go!”
“Funny.”
“Cool.”
“Kind.”
“Compassionate.”
“Happy.”
“Amazing.”
“Nice.”
“Patient.”
“Understanding.”
“Legend!”
The room erupted with laughter thanks to that last description from an energetic boy. The video then turned into a montage of pictures through the years with students and staff members. A bunch of staff members appeared on screen and said a few words about their colleague. Five minutes later, Sarah Marks popped back up.
“Mr Jones, you are one of a kind, sir. We’re all so happy for you to get the break you deserve after helping so many people throughout your career, but we’d be lying if we said were weren’t sad too. You mean so much to us and we’re going to miss you every day.”
The video zoomed out revealing hundreds and hundreds of children who all shouted. “We love you, Mr Jones!”
The video ended and everyone clapped,
