The first chapter is narrated by Julian and opens with the high school principal, Mr. Pearce, lecturing him for missing school. When he asks why Julian didn't attend, Julian replies that he doesn't like his classes, and the principal balks at his answer. The principal gives him a tardy slip, and Julian enters his first period class, Child Development, with Miss Carlisle. Miss Carlisle has to change her attendance record because she has already marked him absent: “‘You are really pushing it today’” (8),she says. Miss Carlisle tells Julian to find a group to work on the class assignment. Kristin, a classmate, glares at Julian and excludes him from her group, telling everyone the reason she doesn’t want him in the group is because she wants a good grade on the project.

After school, Julian is walking home and reminiscing about his deceased parents. When he gets home, he opens a steel trunk his parents gave him that contains "all the things [he] loves[s]”: photos, Elian Mariner books, and his mother's green spiral notebook (11). Julian starts writing in his own notebook. His Uncle, Russell, comes home and asks Julian if he's doing his homework, and then he grabs the notebook Julian is writing in from his hands and turns it upside down and sideways, making fun of Julian's illegible handwriting.