He Said, She Said

She never knew what it was she wanted
So he left
And then she knew
And she knew it was too late
They agreed to burn bridges, sever ties, and forget
But she was a liar and he liked to pretend
That it wasn't real so it couldn't hurt him
She was a well-practiced liar and
He'd become so damn good at pretending
So they forgot
Or they tried to
Each had succeeded in their goal to convince the other they'd forgotten
Him for her sake
Her for her sake
She was selfish when it came to her heart
He was stupid when it came to the fairer sex
And they constructed the most fantastic mistake
She wanted him to make up his mind
He thought he already had but
She didn't like his decision
He didn't want to hurt her
She wanted to get hurt
She wanted him
He didn't know
Because she lied
Because she was a terrific, horrific, magnificent liar
But how could he not know?
She tried to tell the truth
He pretended not to know and he didn't know who's sake he pretended for anymore
And they got tangled in a net of deceit
Both ignoring their ultimate desire to tear the net and lie together
Both living off of their skewed perceptions
Perceptions formed from believing what they didn't want to hear
And saying what she thought he wanted to hear
And saying what he thought she needed to hear
They were playing a game
Rolling the dice
Making a move
She was paranoid of taking chances so she played it safe
He tried so desperately to let her win
Because her success would be his as well
She didn't notice his style of play
Until he'd given up and thrown the board against the wall
And when the board flies
Both teams lose
Both teams lost
And still she sits on the floor long after the game ended
Calculating her next move
Fantasizing strategies that would result in her favored outcome
Running everything through her head that might still allow her to win
A smile still rested between her nose and chin because
It wasn't until she heard the faint click of the dice on cardboard
That she realized the game was over
And he was playing a new game with someone else
And she sat on the floor for hours
Unable to stand up