Matthew glanced at the glowing alarm clock in his room. How could it be 5:30 already? he wondered. He climbed out of bed and pulled on a dark red sweater over the gray shirt and black jeans that he was already wearing. As he walked out the door, Matthew took one glance at himself in the mirror.

He looked perfect. His blond curls managed to stay perfectly in place, and his blue eyes shone. The outfit that Matthew had chosen was perfect too: it was classy without being dorky, and it was flattering without drawing too much attention to himself.

Then, he remembered a line from one of the songs that Jonas liked. "Don't trust a perfect person, and don't trust a song that's flawless." He couldn't remember the band or even the name of the song, but that one line played in his head over and over again.

Matthew didn't want to be perfect. He decided that he would rather be trustworthy than perfect, so he ruffled his hair slightly, causing a single curl to fall out of place. After all, Jonas needed to trust him if this was going to work.

Matthew ran out of his apartment, down the stairs, and out of Medallion Court. He doubted that his mother had even seen him leave. As he left the building, Matthew heard a chorus of high-pitched screams coming from one of the first floor apartments. He assumed that it was just Maria and her posse trying to irritate him again.

He walked to the park behind Martin Van Buren High School, hearing cars drive by as he did. It was a rather cool night, especially for the middle of May. Matthew was glad that he had brought his sweater.

When he arrived at the park, Matthew spotted Jonas waiting for him at the top of the slide. As usual, Jonas was wearing a black jacket, black skinny jeans, and heavy eyeliner. He had one earbud in as he gazed out over the horizon, searching for Matthew.

Matthew climbed up to the top of the stairs. "Hey Jonas," he said when he reached the top. Before Jonas could respond, he disappeared down the slide.

Jonas laughed, and then followed him. When they were both at the bottom of the slide, Jonas looked Matthew over. "You look lovely tonight, Matthew," he said, blushing.

Matthew didn't respond. Jonas may have had ulterior motives in coming here, but that only made him just like all of the other "friends" that Matthew had. It was a shame. He was beginning to think that Jonas was different.

Nevertheless, Matthew would have to brush it off, if only for the sake of his plan.

"What 'business' did you need to attend to anyways?" Jonas asked. "I can't think of anything you might need to do here."

"You'll see," Matthew said. He noticed that Jonas still had an earbud in. "What song are you listening to?"

"Just some My Chemical Romance," Jonas said. He showed Matthew his phone, revealing that he was in fact listening to a My Chemical Romance song called "SING," but that didn't interest Matthew.

The part that Matthew found fascinating was the single cover. "Would you destroy something perfect in order to make it beautiful?" he read. He repeated the sentence several more times.

Would you destroy something perfect in order to make it beautiful?

Would you destroy something perfect in order to make it beautiful?

"Matthew, what are you doing?" Jonas asked.

"Jonas, look at the high school?" Matthew said. "Isn't it perfect?"

The park was facing the newly built, state of the art performing arts center. There was no way that Jonas could say that it wasn't perfect. "I suppose it is, but what are you getting at?" Jonas asked.

"Let's go a little closer," Matthew said. This time, he didn't care that Jonas' hand brushed against his a few too many times for it to be accidental. His plan was working.

Matthew and Jonas were leaning against the walls of Martin Van Buren High School when Matthew opened his backpack and threw his AP Literature textbook onto the ground. He then lit a match and tossed it on top of the book, which was quickly engulfed in flames.

"Matthew, what are you doing?" Jonas shouted. "Don't you need that for literature?"

"Who cares about literature?" Matthew said. "Besides, this is only the beginning."

"What do you mean?" Jonas asked.

"You said that the school was perfect," Matthew said, eyeing the PAC. "Well, I'm going to make it beautiful." He lit a second match and threw it into the building.

By this point, Jonas was trembling. "I...I'm calling 911," he said. "You are crazy, and this needs to stop before you burn down the whole school."

"Isn't that the point?" Matthew said, and he had to resist the urge to let out a cackle. He wasn't quite sure why, but the sight of smoke pouring out of the school filled him with glee.

Jonas was already dialing 911, however, and Matthew knew that his time was limited. He sprinted towards Medallion Court, hoping that he could be home before anyone noticed what had happened.

Yet, the feeling was thrilling. Matthew Clark, who had never once broken a rule in the past eighteen years of his life, had set fire to Van Buren High School. "I should do this more often," Matthew mumbled to himself as he continued to run.

However, someone was after him. Matthew looked back and saw Jonas running towards him. Before long, Jonas' longer legs caught up to Matthew. "You're not getting away with this," Jonas said, panting.

Jonas may have been a faster runner, but Matthew had more endurance, thanks to years of training with the track team. He managed to make it back to Apartment #312 long before Jonas did.

It was a beautiful escape, and although the firefighters put out the glorious flames that Matthew had started, enough damage was done to make it worth it. If only Jonas had helped, Matthew thought. Then again, it was too late to change what had happened. From now on, there was no doubt that Jonas was Matthew's enemy.