There were two.

The two were the same. 

They broke rules, 

Manipulated parents, 

Lied to everyone. 

Lied about small things at first. 

About brushing their teeth,

about trying in school, 

about caring at all. 

But the two didn't look the same to the others;

they looked opposite 

Because The One was trusted 

and The Other One was not. 

So The One pleased others 

while The Other One disappointed. 

The One was liked more

And people's trust in it grew. 

The One said what it took to please others

But never really meant it. 

The One learned to mislead, 

to manipulate, 

to lie. 

Learned to change itself 

to please each new audience. 

The One did everything 

The Other One did 

but no one looked in its direction. 

They blindly believed in the impossible perfect 

of The One

To convince themselves 

that something turned out right. 

But they looked in the direction of The Other One. 

Scolded it. 

Punished it. 

Cried over it. 

Yet they failed to notice 

that the two were the same.

Everyone always too busy 

with The Other One

And only ever tried to fix it. 

But were they fixing the right One?