On Monday morning, Tom tries without success to convince Aunt Polly that he is too ill to attend school. His final plea--that his tooth aches--results in Aunt Polly quickly pulling the tooth and sending Tom on his way. On the way to school, Tom meets Huckleberry Finn. Huck is carrying around a dead cat with the intent of taking it to the cemetery that night because he believes the superstition that, when Satan comes to the cemetery to gather the corpses of evil persons, the cat will follow Satan, as will the warts. (In other words, Huck sees this as a way to get rid of his warts.)
Tom arrives at school late and, as punishment, he must sit in the girls' section. He does not mind, however, because the only empty seat is next to Becky Thatcher. Tom draws pictures for her, writes a love note to her, and is so smitten that he doesn't study his lessons and ends up at the foot of the class in a spelling bee. During lunch, Tom and Becky get to know each other, and Tom suggests that they become engaged. Becky agrees, even though she doesn't know what being engaged means. When Tom mentions his earlier relationship with Amy Lawrence, Becky spurns him.
Depressed, Tom plays hooky that afternoon. He thinks of dead Jimmy Hodges and contemplates his own suicide and how sorry Becky will be that she treated him so badly. His solitude is disturbed by his friend Joe Harper, and the two spend the rest of the afternoon playing.
