Curiosity Can Get You Killed

Derrick Nolden woke up in his bed. His mom kept shouting, "First day of school! Time to get up!" Derrick sat up excited for the first day of school at Charleston Academy into the seventh grade, along with his best friends Ashley and Gary.He hasn't seen them in three months. He ran to the bathroom and brushed his teeth and quickly got his clothes on. Derrick was so excited that while running down the stairs, he tripped and fell. But that didn't matter. He hopped in the kitchen chair and began to eat his oatmeal. When he was done, he kissed his mom goodbye and headed to school. Derrick stooped in his tracks and looked out into the edge of the forest because he thought he heard something. Derrick noticed he was getting side-tracked and he continued on. He got in the door as soon as the bell went off. He hurried to his new classroom. There he saw Ashley and Gary saving him a seat between them. He sits in the seat.
"Well hello," the new teacher said. "Are you a new student?"
"No," Derrick answered. "Just got in. I've been hear since kindergarten."
"Oh. Well, what's your name?"
"Derrick."
"Nice to meet you Derrick. I'm Mrs. Walden."
"Nice to meet you too." Derrick smiled.

A couple hours later, Derrick, Ashley, and Gary sat at the lunch table. Ashley had blonde hair blue eyes and freckles on her cheeks. She wore a pink Hello Kitty shirt, green shorts, and blue Converse shoes. Gary had a buttoned-up navy blue shirt, dress pants, and dress shoes. He also wore glasses. They had they own table, apart from the rest of the class.
"Why are you wearing clothes like you're at work? You know this is a free dress school." Ashley asked.
"I want to appear formal." Gary said.
Ashley rolled her eyes and Derrick chuckled. Ashley turned the conversation to Derrick. She asked him about his summer.
"Nothing special, didn't do much." Derrick said. He stared out into the trees.
"What's wrong?" Ashley asked.
"Nothing. Just that on my way to school I heard like, a branch snap or something."
No one said anything after that until Gary brought up a different topic. "What's up with that new girl?" he said.
"Your crush!" Ashley exclaimed and grinned.
"Is not!" Gary shouted blushing.
Derrick was still out of it. Still staring into the trees.