In Chapter 1, Luke begins life at Hendricks School for Boys in the middle of the school year under his new identity as Lee Grant. On his first day, he is overwhelmed by unfamiliar surroundings, the large size of the school building, and the enormous number of students. He goes with George Talbot to the front office to have his forged medical and academic papers signed. Luke is overcome with homesickness as he thinks about how his own father would peruse the records much more carefully than Mr. Talbot before signing. When the school receptionist calls for fellow student Rolly Sturgeon to come to the office to help Luke, he becomes weak with fear as he hears the classroom roar in the call’s background. Mr. Talbot secretly slips Luke a note as they awkwardly shake hands to say goodbye.

Rolly enters the room, scaring Luke in the process. Luke almost tells Rolly that he’s “jumpy like a cat” (7), but stops himself since cats are illegal for their potential to take food that belongs to humans. His family saw and benefited from cats when he was at home in the country, but Luke remembers that his new identity as a wealthy boy from the city would make him ignorant of their existence.