[ WP ] You have a superhuman power which allows you to see a bar above everyone 's head which shows how much of their life a person has lived . One day , you decide to go out with your friend to dinner . His bar reads : 99.99 %

I still remember the day I learned what the bars meant. I was 6 years old, still a child, on my way to school. One of the older kids was walking ahead of me, texting or watching a video on his phone, I never found out what. His bar read 99.99 %, a higher number than I had ever seen before. I stood there, fascinated, as he walked into the intersection, oblivious to his surroundings. Before that day I would ask my parents what the bars meant and they would just play along, thinking it was a quirky little game I played, I stopped asking afterwards. 
 
 Since then I've learned little more about my `` gift''. It's hard to say if I am the only one who has it, it's not something you would just casually ask someone assuming I had many people to ask. Relationships have been difficult for me. It's a simple calculation to figure out when someone's bar will run out, I can do it in my head now, and how do you face someone with that kind of knowledge? Sam though... Sam broke through my defenses all the same. 
 
 We met in college, in chemistry where I guess the teacher thought pairing the two quietest kids in class with each other would give some common ground, or at least spare the others dealing with us. The project we shared was to last the whole semester and, despite our best efforts, we got to know each other. She shared my love for classical guitar, and admired my art and when I arrived early to hear her singing one day, I fell in love with her voice. Class ended, but our friendship continued on. 
 
 I fell for her, more than a little, and there were signs she felt the same, though neither of us pursued more than friendship. Fantasize though I might, it was as if that bar floating above her head were a physical barrier between us. It became harder as time went on and the bar filled more and more. I started finding excuses not to see her as much, she did the same. We lost touch for a while. The day was coming, I knew, and I came to a horrible understanding. I had been a coward, was being one still. Sam was my best friend, the love of my life, and I had let her go because of my own inability to face the truth. So I reached out. 
 
 When I called her it was as if nothing had happened, like old times. I asked her out to dinner for the night I knew her bar would reach full. I had to tell her how I felt, had to be there for her that night, I owed her that. She paused when I asked, I almost thought she'd say no, but she agreed. We went to our favorite restaurant, an old italian place that had been around for decades. I thought I was looking my absolute best until she walked in the door. She was stunning. We ordered dinner, an expensive cabernet, and got to catching up. She told me she had just gotten her first paid gig, that she had missed singing for me so had taken the plunge and started singing for others. I could n't help it, I tried to cover it up but she caught me wiping the tear from my eye. 
 
 `` John, what's wrong?'' She had reached out to grab my hand. 
 
 `` It's nothing Sam, it's-'' I looked her in the eyes, `` Sam, I love you. I should have told you a long time before now. `` Her hand trembled in mine as tears began to run down her face. Her bar read 99.99 % 
 
 `` Oh John, why now. Why did you have to tell me this now? If we had more time...'' Her eyes flicked up to a point above my head as the tears continued to fall. 
 
 More time? My eyes widened in horrified realization, any words I would say drowned out by roaring flames exploding from the kitchen.
