SECRETS | COMPLETED

Chapter 3

(The next morning.)

I woke up to see that Mitch had already disappeared. Great. I had planned to ask him what was up as well. As I was about to get up and take a shower I heard the front door slam. Was that Mitch? He never and I mean never, goes out before 8:00 am. Curiously, I got up from the sofa, groaning as I realized that I had terrible back ache. I wasn't really surprised considering the position that I had slept in last night, but it was still uncomfortable!

I walked towards the front door where I found Mitch taking off his coat and boots. He looked much better than before, he was still pale yet he looked a lot healthier and more awake, I was relieved to see this; I'd been getting worried.

"Where have you been?" I questioned, looking him up and down, searching for clues. The metallic scent from before filled the air, leaving me clueless as to what it was. If it was deodorant or a new aftershave then it certainly wasn't a very nice one.

"Oh..um...nowhere special. I...er.. needed some air, yeah, I needed some air. You know, to wake up."

He was lying, I could tell, but as I knew that he wasn't going to confide in me, I decided that I'd have to find out what was up with him for myself.

"Okay, why don't you have a shower then...I'll make us some breakfast. Pancakes?" I said putting on a smile. He looked glad at my suggestion and agreed eagerly.

"Take your time though Mitch, you know how long it takes me to cook...well anything!" I'd just gotten myself half an hour at least. He flashed me a quick smile as he headed upstairs to the shower. How can he look so good so early in the morning?

As soon as he was out of sight I grabbed his laptop to begin my investigation which he had left on the table last night. I smiled as I saw that his background was a cute picture of Kirstie, Mitch and I. First thing to check: emails.

Before I opened the tab, I paused. Was this really the right thing to do? Snoop through my best friends emails? I shook my head, of course it was okay, Mitch needs help!

The first message I saw was from Kirstie, it was quite short and just informed him of what we had done at yesterday's meeting. The second was from Kevin and Avi asking him if he would like to join a group of us for dinner one night. That one had been replied to with a 'no thanks'.

The third most recent one caught my eye. It was from Travis - Mitch's ex boyfriend. I'd never really spoken to Travis much but I knew how upset Mitch was when they broke up so I had never really liked him. It was odd though; they'd broken up months ago, and I was pretty sure that they didn't keep in touch with each other.

Intrigued, I clicked on the message, it was quite a brief one. It read, 'Is it true? Are you really a you know what? We need to talk. Meet me Wednesday at 6:30 outside the cafe near to where you live.'

So that's where he was this morning; meeting Travis! Wait that's weird. What did he mean by 'you know what'. I racked my brain, pondering over what that could mean yet I could think of nothing. I used my phone to take a picture of the email; maybe it could come in useful later. Most of the other emails were fairly normal, bills, Facebook etc. Knowing I probably wouldn't find much else on there I closed the lid of the laptop and started with breakfast.

I had just finished the pancakes as Mitch walked in from his shower looking much more refreshed.

"Wow these smell delicious!" He grinned, grabbing one of the two plates I had prepared. As he drenched them in maple syrup I decided to repeat my question from earlier.

"Where did you really go this morning?" I quizzed, my eyes searching his face, looking for any type of reaction.

"I already told you." He sighed, not looking me in the eye, "I went out to get  some air!"

"Then why don't I believe you? I know you Mitch! You hate mornings! I've never known you to leave the house earlier than 8:00 am - and that was when you had to be somewhere. You had no where to be this morning that you've told me about so why would you leave the house? I'm concerned for you Mitch, you've been acting so weird lately. So I'll ask you again. Where did you go this morning?"

I immediately felt guilty after my outburst and it was an understatement to say that Mitch looked shocked. He quickly composed himself to answer me though.

"I appreciate that you're concerned but you don't have to know where I am all of the time! I'm an adult, if I want to go out at 6:30 in the morning then I will...okay!! Seriously Scott, I thought that you were my friend; not my mum."

With that he pushed his pancakes, which he had barely touched, away and walked quickly to his room; not looking back.

I groaned, sitting down at the table, my head in my hands. Well done Scott! You've driven him away further. Although Mitch did mention the time 6:30, like Travis in his email. To me, that was proof that he and Mitch had met up this morning. But what about?

I knew that if I was to find out, I had to get my hands on Mitch's phone. I knew his passcode and the rest of his phone inside out; there was just one problem. The problem was that the phone was practically glued to his hand 24 hours a day.

How would I get access to his phone without him finding out?