Ben does not think this is as funny as I do.

“You scared me, Lola! And it’s not even Halloween yet,” he complains.

“Well, it’s Halloweek,” I say, and pat him on the head. Then I go back to my room to get ready for school.

“I’ll get you back!” Ben says.

“I hope so!” I say. I like surprises.

Dad makes us pumpkin pancakes for breakfast. Not only do they have pumpkin flavor, but they are shaped like pumpkins, too! It’s going to be a great day.

When I get to school, I run over to Josh Blot and Bella Benitez, my super best friends.

“What are you going to be for Halloween?” I ask.

“I’m going to be a firefighter,” says Josh.

“That’s awesome,” I say. “How about you, Bella?”

“I’m going to be a fairy,” she says.

“How cool!” I say. “You’ll be a great fairy. When you dance ballet, it sometimes looks like you are flying.” Bella loves to dance.

“How about you?” Bella asks.

“I’m not sure yet,” I say. “I might be a zombie—or a vampire. It has to be something really scary. We always make our costumes, because my dad believes in ‘creative expression,’ but we did buy lots of black and white makeup and fake blood at the store this weekend.”

Alyssa Goldstein and Makayla Miller must be listening, because all of a sudden Alyssa says, “Gross. I don’t know why you’d want to wear fake blood or look like a monster.”

“I happen to like monsters,” I say back. “What are you going to be for Halloween?”

“Princesses,” Alyssa and Makayla say at the same time. Somehow, I’m not surprised. They sometimes act like they rule the school, but they really don’t. They like to tease me, and other people, too. The bell rings, and we all walk into Ms. Garcia’s second-grade classroom and sit down.

“Good morning, students!” Ms. Garcia says.

“Good morning, Ms. Garcia!” we answer back.

“Is everyone excited for the Fall Festival?” Ms. Garcia asks.

“Yes!” the whole class says at once.

“We are going to have so many fun events this week,” Ms. Garcia says. “There are lots of celebrations during the fall, all over the world. For example, Chinese people celebrate the Moon Festival in mid-autumn. They gather with friends and family for parades under the moonlight, carrying lanterns and dancing. They celebrate, give thanks, and eat mooncakes.

“Mexicans and Mexican Americans like me celebrate Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, at the start of November. We create altars for our loved ones who have passed. Many in the United States celebrate Halloween.”

“We celebrate Dia de los Muertos, too!” says Bella.

“That’s wonderful!” says Ms. Garcia. “Fall is an important time of year for many people. Here at Northland Elementary we will have the Fall Festival this week to celebrate the transition of summer into winter during the season of autumn.”

“I know a girl named Autumn!” says Juan Gomez. “She lives on my block.”

“That’s a nice name,” says Ms. Garcia. “What do we know about autumn, the season also called fall?” I raise my hand, and Ms. Garcia calls on me.

“It’s the time of year when trees’ leaves change color and then fall off,” I say.

“That’s right, Lola,” says Ms. Garcia. “We have four seasons: summer, fall, winter, and spring. We call trees that lose all their leaves seasonally deciduous trees.” Then she writes the word deciduous on the board. It sounds like dee-sid-you-us. “Autumn is also the time when some of the food we eat is harvested, including apples.”

“Yum!” I say. “Do we get to visit an apple orchard, Ms. Garcia? Because I know last year’s second graders did.”

“Yes, we do,” says Ms. Garcia. “On Wednesday, we will go to Feliz Manzana Farm and pick some apples. Can anyone tell me what feliz manzana means in English?” I raise my hand, but Bella is quicker. “What does it mean, Bella?”

“It means ‘happy apple,’” Bella says with a smile.

“I speak Spanish, too,” I say.

“We all know that,” says Makayla, rolling her eyes. I roll mine back.

“Tomorrow, we’ll collect leaves and decorate the classroom with leaf art. We’ll visit the farm on Wednesday, and Thursday is Pumpkin Day! Each of you will bring a pumpkin to school. We’ll weigh, measure, and describe the pumpkins. After that, you’ll get to paint them. And then, finally, we are going to have a school parade on Friday during lunchtime recess. Each of you will get to dress as one of your favorite characters from a book or from history.”

I already know who my favorite book character is. I’m going to dress up as Marisol McDonald from my favorite picture book, Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match. Marisol is bilingual, just like me. She likes to mismatch on purpose. Best of all, she’s always true to herself, even if it means people tease her sometimes.

“Hooray! Hooray! Pumpkin Day!” I say, and everyone laughs. It feels nice—not like they are laughing at me, but like they are laughing with me.