On his first day of high school, the unnamed narrator meets Albie Pelagutti in Mr. Russo’s occupations class. They take a test to help decide what careers suit them best, and when Mr. Russo steps out of the room for a drink of water, Albie forces the protagonist to let him cheat off him, despite the test being opinion based. After this, they become friends. Albie is 17, is in his third freshman year, and was recently released from Jamesburg Reformatory. As they spend more time together, the protagonist learns more about Albie, who tells him he was the star baseball player at Jamesburg. The protagonist picks Albie first for his baseball team in physical education, but Albie turns out to be a horrible player who can neither hit nor catch the ball. They lose their first game, and the protagonist is enraged. He confronts Albie, accusing him of lying about being a star and lamenting that he will be stuck with him on his team for the rest of the term. Albie turns and punches him in the face.

There is another ex-convict in the class, named Duke Scarpa. He is not as determined to be reformed as Albie is and often follows Albie and the protagonist around.