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Chapter One: Blind Dates

You'd be surprised how easy it was to live in the world where superpowers were the norm. I did have superpowers; it was just that mine wasn't super strength or super anything. I walked through the front doors because they didn't expect everyone to fly, and I drove because I didn't have super speed. For every person who had a one power, there were hundreds that didn't have it. I just fell in the later category. It wasn't convenient, but I'd been living with it all my life.

I had increased perception. I could notice the pulled thread on anyone's sweater; I could see that someone had been crying the day before based on a slight difference in the colour of their eyes. I was just someone who paid attention. Sure I could hold a conversation by looking at body language, but it wasn't as efficient as reading minds.

Meanwhile, my friend Todd could throw a car several city blocks, up to seven if he was with Laura.

You soul mate and power were linked, which meant that as long as your soul mate was around you were unbelievably more powerful. It meant I would probably really notice her if she ever showed up. The issue with the soul mate fantasy was that the average person never met their soul mate. There were seven billion people on the planet, and one of them was right for you, she was probably flying around China at this point.

Despite the fact that my soulmate was out there, Todd had dragged me out to a bar for the sake of a blind date. Ever since he'd met Laura, he'd taken it upon himself to shatter my bachelor status. He usually brought Laura along with him as he tried to do it.

I kept watching the bubbles in my beer float up, I could tell you what speed they were going at. I could also tell you what the other people were drinking based on the colour of their glass, but it was a party trick. I wasn't going to impress the girl at the bar texting her friend Jessica by telling her that she had a rum and coke."Toby," Todd cut in, "Earth to Toby."

"Present," I said. I glanced up at him. Todd's arm was around Laura, wrapping around her pencil-thin waist and showing off their relationship to everyone at the table.

"You excited to meet your soul mate?" He flashed me a brilliant smile as he asked.

"Ha." I sat myself up, so I was, at least, paying attention to him. He was taking the time and effort to set me up with one of his friends from work; I might as well try to seem interested. It wasn't easy to convince girls to date a guy who couldn't take them on a flight somewhere. "What's she like?"

"Dude, I've been telling you for the past hour."

"Well, I wasn't paying-"

"Yeah you were, you can't," he paused before the double negative, "not pay attention," he pointed out "you just wanted to check if I could keep the story straight."

"Guilty."

"Well I'm telling you, she's hot, and she sucks like you."

"You're doing a good job selling her," Laura cut in, she smacked Todd on the shoulder, it didn't do much to move him at all. "What time is she getting here?"

"Why don't you tell me?" He asked. The door opened across the bar, and I turned my attention to it, and the girl walking through it. To call her a smoke show would be a disservice to how hot she was. Her tanning bed skin framed with auburn hair tussled perfectly. She must have been a shifter; I looked away from her.

"Is that her at the door Todd?" I asked. There wasn't a response. "Earth to Todd?" Still no answer, Todd was stuck with a dumb smile plastered over his dark lips. Laura was holding him tight, neither of them was moving. I flicked my eyes over to the girl at the door; she was still strutting. I stood up to greet her.