Miss Holly Is Too Jolly! by Dan Gutman Page A

hate her.

2
Weird Words
    â€œÂ¡Hola!” Miss Holly said. “Today we’re going to learn Spanish vocabulary words.”
    â€œYay!” said the girls.
    â€œBoo!” said the boys.
    â€œThe first word is ‘toupee,’” said Miss Holly.
    I know what a toupee is. It’s fake hair that guys wear so they won’t look bald. Our principal, Mr. Klutz, should get one because he’s as bald as a bowling ball.
    â€œThe Spanish word for ‘toupee’ is el peluquín ,” said Miss Holly.
    â€œEl peluquín,” we all repeated.
    â€œGood,” said Miss Holly. “The next word is ‘lifeguard.’ The Spanish word for ‘lifeguard’ is el salvavidas .”
    â€œEl salvavidas,” we all repeated.
    â€œGood,” said Miss Holly. “The next word is ‘toilet.’ The Spanish word for ‘toilet’ is el inodoro .”
    â€œEl inodoro,” we all repeated.
    This was getting weird. I figured MissHolly would teach us words we’d use every day, like “When do we eat?” or “Where is the skate park?” But she was teaching us weird words instead.
    Neil the nude kid raised his hand. “Why do we need to learn those words?” he asked.
    â€œWell,” said Miss Holly, “what if you’re at the beach and you need to tell somebody that the lifeguard’s toupee fell in the toilet?”
    Miss Holly is weird.
    â€œOkay, that’s enough vocabulary for now,”
    Miss Holly said.“Let’s learn how they celebrate the holidays in a Spanish-speaking country like Mexico!”

    Miss Holly told us that eleven days after Christmas in Mexico, kids put their shoes out on the balcony before they go to sleep. If they’ve been good, their shoes will be filled with treats when they wake up the next morning.
    â€œEww, that’s disgusting!” I said. “I wouldn’t eat those smelly treats!”
    Miss Holly said that was silly. Then she told us that for nine days beforeChristmas in Mexico, people act out the journey of Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem. After a big feast, they play the piñata game.

    â€œRepeat after me,” said Miss Holly. “Piñata!”
    â€œPiñata,” we all repeated.
    I knew what a piñata was because Ryan had one at his birthday party. It’s this big, hollow, paper thing you hang from a tree, and kids take turns whacking it with a stick. When the piñata breaks open, candy falls out and everybody grabs it.
    Piñatas are cool because you get to do two very cool things—eat candy and whack something with a stick.
    Miss Holly went to the closet, and guess what she took out?
    I’m not going to tell you.
    Okay, okay, I’ll tell you.
    A piñata! It was in the shape of a star. We were going to play the piñata game! All right!
    Miss Holly climbed up on her desk and tied the piñata to a bar on the ceiling.
    â€œCan I go first?” we all yelled.
    Miss Holly said we’d go in ABC order, which meant that Andrea (AN) got to go first. I lined up behind her because my real name, Arlo, begins with AR.
    Miss Holly told us that in Mexico the kids are blindfolded when they play thepiñata game. She tied a blindfold over Andrea’s eyes and put a stick in her hand.
    â€œYou can do it, Andrea!” the girls yelled.
    â€œI bet she misses the whole thing,” I told Ryan.
    Well, Andrea was totally pathetic. She hardly ever hit the piñata. Even when she did, she only tapped it a little and it just spun around. All the boys were cracking up.
    Finally it was my turn. Miss Holly tied the blindfold over my eyes and put the stick in my hand.
    â€œKill it, A.J.!” the boys yelled.
    No way was I going to let anybody laugh at me . I was going to whack thatpiñata so hard, candy would fly all over the room. I reached back and swung the stick as hard as I could.
    But I must have missed.
    â€œOwwww!” somebody