Andrew had been lying on his bed the whole time, when someone entered. It had been a while since that happened, so he sat up, slowly, to see who it was. It was Prometheus, who was putting some boots on. It made Andrew wonder how long he had been just lying there. Had he had a wrist-watch or a phone, he would have been able to see that it had been more than half an hour. Still, he felt a bit dizzy, very possibly due to the stuffy air in the room, and because he had been concentrating for so long.
I should get some air.
Andrew exited the room without addressing Prometheus apart from the usual friendly smile. He could see from the nearby-window that most of the others seemed to be either in the pool, or around it. Etna didn't seem to be there. Not that he cared either way, right now he still felt like being alone for a moment. Just for the sake of clearing his head. As he walked to the entrance, he spotted Aria and Dan, sitting by a table. They were both red, confessing their undying love to each other, even kissing. They seemed like two 14 year old kids.
Good to see that removing and giving up your own eye didn't do any good, Dan.
He went on his way, they seemed as if they would start undressing each other and have really awkward sex on the spot. Aria seemed like the type who would try something like that just because there were someone to watch. She had walked into a room full of boys, naked, on purpose. So she might be into that too. Andrew sighed as he went outside the door, and went in the opposite direction of the pool, to avoid the others.
He walked over to the shade, and found a bench. There were no one there, and he sat down, sitting in a position that didn't harm the broken ribs. Seeing Aria and Dan acting like that, had reminded Andrew of how human the other demigods were. Emotional, sentimental, with a crippled judgement and a lack of simple sense.
Unlike me.
Kirsten had several times said he had the traits of a sociopath. As a psychologist, she had judge him like she judged anyone else. However, Andrew didn't like her judgement, it made it seem as if he was the one there was something wrong with, and not the other way around. Besides, Kirsten had also tried to psychoanalyze him for months, and then looked through his stuff, she was a crazy *****.
There's nothing wrong with me. Them, however...
He was disappointed, honestly. Andrew had hoped the demigods were different. That the gods were different, but so far, he still was the odd one out. He still had to smile, and act friendly. Get them to trust him, so he could help them. It was annoying, and tiresome. How would they react if they could read his mind?
Probably would leave me behind.
But for what it was worth, they needed him. Two people would have died the day before, if he hadn't been there. If his powers hadn't happened to be healing. But no one would thank him, if they had found out he wasn't feeling sick when watching something die, or large wounds, at the thought of mass-suicide. And, for what it was worth, he did want to save them, for no one to get killed. But he wouldn't cry if one of them did, or feel sad, not naturally. He'd have to, though.
Why do I have to do make all the effort?
That was what Etna was for. She was the person who he would shed his mask for, if only for a short moment. Play with her, toy with her mind, because she hadn't fallen for his fake smile. Besides, she wasn't bad at the game herself, although what she hid was something different, something emotional. Although Andrew lacked the empathy to tell what.
In the end, everyone is hiding. Some are just better at it than others. Some hide more than others too. I guess I'm hiding my superiority, the fact that I'm better than the rest, in order to fit into society. Because people fear what is different, be it better or worse.
He shrugged. Andrew had forgotten how easily he got sick of repeating what he already knew to himself. He then went to check on the others by the pool. Apparently, there had been a race, and from the sound of it, Nicole had won. Andrew had put his mask on from the moment he could be spotted by anyone else.
"You must be tired," he said to the two in the pool. "Any of you feel like you might have stretched something? I'm just checking, in case you got a bit too competitive and forgot yourself."
