a/n Please note that all WitFit entries are unedited. No beta. I don't own Twilight.

***They're seniors in high school, during the fall.

Word Prompt: Coach

Dialogue Flex: "Why is this so frustrating?"

Using the provided snippet of dialogue, explore what comes to mind, be it a scene, a thought, or something else.

"Why aren't you doing this with Jessica?"

"Because I'm doing it with you."

I stared at him until he looked up from his laptop.

"What?"

"You know what I mean," I said tersely.

"Not really," he smiled and went back to typing. "Keep typing."

I sighed dramatically hoping he'd look back up. "I just mean shouldn't you be helping your girlfriend out with applications?"

"Who says I'm not?"

His eyes met my widened ones as he stuttered an explanation. "I-I mean I am helping her. Jessica. My girlfriend." I frowned foully. He sounded like an idiot. He shook his head a little and went back to fervently typing. "I'm helping her, just not now. She said she wasn't ready."

"I'm not ready either," I pointed out.

"Assertiveness is wise in this case. We don't want to procrastinate on this and stress out closer to the deadlines."

I was rolling my eyes before he finished. His academic discipline never rubbed off on me. "I'm not stressed. I doubt Peninsula is this complicated to get into."

"Bella, you aren't going to community college," he said, brushing me off.

"Yes I am. How do you think I'm paying for school?"

It was his turn to sigh dramatically. He never liked me bringing up money or our differences on the subject.

"You'll get a loan or financial aid. Maybe a scholarship. If we can get these applications done, we'll start researching scholarships you can qualify for."

"You don't need a scholarship," I mumbled, looking out the window in his dining room. It was drizzling but I'd take that over spending our Saturday writing self-reflective essays and checking boxes on applications I had no intention on mailing in.

"I don't but you do so we'll find the money. Don't sell yourself short with Peninsula."

Sometimes he could get so snotty. "Did you feel that way about Emmett?"

The comparison shocked him. "You know I don't. He's different. His goals are different."

"I'll say," I laughed. "Goal 1, marry Rosalie Hale. Goal 2, have loads of babies with Rosalie Hale. Goal 3, see what else Rosalie Hale wants to do." I expected Edward to laugh too but when I saw his fallen face, I realized what I said. I reached over the table and squeezed his arm.

"They're gonna have all those babies you know," I said softly.

"I know," he tried to say confidently but his glassy eyes broke my heart. He blinked a few times and started typing again. The only time I'd ever seen Edward cry was when he told me Rosalie miscarried the baby over the summer. I held him for hours while he wept. Emmett has always been a rock for Edward and seeing his brother shaken to the core devastated him. I'd seen Edward hurt emotionally and physically but nothing compared to what it was like for him to see Emmett heartbroken.

I shuffled through a few of the applications on the table. "Why is this so frustrating," I asked, attempting to break the silence.

"Which one were you last working on?"

"U-Dub. They want to know what cultural awareness I've developed. Seriously. Who comes up with these questions?"

He chuckled at my petulance. "Use the same answer you have for Oregon State. They had a similar question."

"Edward, I'm not even interested in all these places. If I go out of state, I'd just want to go to school with you and with my GPA there's no way I'm getting into any of those schools."

"You don't know that," he said dismissively.

"Yes I do. I also know it's a waste of money for me to go to a 4-year university right now."

"Bella-"

"No just listen," I interrupted. "I don't know what I want to do yet. I don't feel like going into debt by racking up student loans so I could use a little more time figuring things out. We don't all have our career plans mapped out like you do."

"I don't have it mapped out."

"You've known for awhile you wanted to be a journalist."

"Yeah but that doesn't mean I know what I'm going to do with that," he argued.

"You're going to write."

He covered his mouth with a fist and gasped. "Wow. Thanks. You're like my personal oracle. A journalist who will write."

I shoved him. "You're killing me. How did I get stuck on a Saturday filling out college apps while your girlfriend gets away with telling you the same thing I keep telling you - I'm not ready to do this."

He shoved me back. "Because I don't give a shit what Jessica does with her life."

"Whoa, does she know that," I asked. I knew she wasn't the love of his life or anything but I was surprised he was being callous.

"I'm sure she knows deep down. I care what you do with your life." He crossed his arms and smirked. "I have a vested interest."

"You make me sound like a stock or something."

"You're a hot commodity, Swan. What can I say?"

"So sexy," I said sarcastically. "Oh how I love your dirty talk."

He leaned forward against the table. "I know how much you love dirty talk." I narrowed my eyes at him. "And how much you hate me bringing that up. Tell me this. Was Mike able-"

"Don't say another fucking word," I seethed.

"That's not what you said when I made you-"

"God," I said, smacking my hand on the table. "You're such an idiot. How did you go from applications to pervert?"

"I learned all my perving from you."

"Liar. Emmett was your bad influence."

"He's the best influence. You'd be scandalized by what else I-"

I shut my laptop, making an abrupt announcement. "I think we're officially distracted."

"You think," he snorted. He stood up to stretch. "I need to hit the head. We can stop for a bit. You want to break at the diner?"

The thought of a bacon burger and shake had me salivating. "Yeah. I need something in my system." I heard him snicker as he walked to the bathroom. "So mature. I'm going to the car," I shouted to him.

He left the hallway bathroom door open and yelled back. "Bella, I told you I'm never having sex with you in a car again. Please don't take advantage of me."

I was officially infuriated. I grabbed my coat and stalked out of the house. I slammed the front door to make him sweat his last words. We joked and even flirted sometimes but every since he started hooking up with Jessica, we generally steered clear of talking about our sexual escapade. I wasn't sure what had gotten into him. I may have been his best friend for years but he still regressed into his boy world that I could never quite understand. Our feelings for each other were simple and complicated at the same time. I believed we would remain friends when we went off to college but maybe Edward was more stressed than he was letting on. He was increasingly disinterested in his girlfriend and obsessive about my future. Flickers of hope touched the edges of my heart but I knew his wall was too sturdy for me to be going down that road. The older we were getting, the less I was understanding.

"Doesn't make sense," I said to myself.

The front door opened, startling me, and Edward walked out holding his coat. "What doesn't make sense."

"Nothing," I said tersely. I was still bothered.

He walked over to me and stood close enough that his breath tickled against my ear. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely. I wanted to stay mad just to give him a hard time but once I glanced up at him, I melted. Those eyes storming with unspoken meaning always got me.

I gave him a look so he knew I was on to him. He didn't play fairly. "Let's go."

He grinned and threw his arm around my shoulder, pulling me towards his car. He covered our heads with his coat since it was raining harder and led me to the passenger door. "I know you're going to want a shake but I think we should get some coffee too," he said as he opened the door for me. "Our interlude is putting us behind and we have a lot more work to do."

He shut the door before I could say anything and ran around to the drivers side. I sank down in my seat and reminded myself to enjoy these moments with him because in less than a year, our friendship would look very different thousands of miles apart.