Sandcastles

Chapter Eight

here's a Ben(Dylan O'Brien) gif because i find him adorable

"Ben!" I yell through the hall. I hear his door slam and I walk up to it, banging my fist on the wood. "Ben, open the door!"

"No! Go away!" his voice yells back. I sigh and lean against the back wall. He's been like this since I got home from the hospital last night. Madeline and I can't seem to find out why.

"Ben, can we talk?" I ask him. He replies with a no. I groan and look into the living room, seeing that Madeline looks just as frustrated as I do.

I give up and walk into the living room, sitting on the couch beside Madeline. She said that he started acting weird after Helen called him yesterday morning. Helen was acting weird, and now Ben is acting weird. I feel like I should be putting something together now but I'm just confused.

Madeline pulls out her phone and starts texting someone, her eyebrows knitting together as she does so. She puts the phone down and lays back on the couch.

"Marc said he needed to come over to talk about something. He's bringing pizza." She says.

"No! Tell him no!" Ben's voice calls. He runs out of his room and into the living room. He looks like he's panicking about something and keeps saying to not let Marc come over.

"What? Why not? Why can you let Helen over but I can't let Marc over?" she asks him with a smirk. Ben sighs and sits on the couch saying something about Marc killing him.

As if on cue, the front door of our house swings open. The tall figure of the oldest Ludwig boy walks through with a devilish smirk. Actually, it's not really a smirk. It's more like an angry grin. He tosses his sunglasses on the couch and looks straight to Ben. He doesn't even act like Madeline's right in front of him.

"Oh, Benjamin." He says through gritted teeth. Ben's eyes go wide and he sprints back to his room. Marc follows at a slow pace. "Come on Ben, let's have a chat."

I look at Madeline and see that she is just as confused as I am. Thank God that I'm not the only one. Madeline stands and gets Marc away from tormenting Ben for whatever reason. She drags Marc into the living room and he sits on the couch, crossing his arms in front of him.

"You said you wanted to come over here to talk?" Madeline tells him. He lets out a low chuckle.

"Yeah, to the little shit that's hiding in his room back there." Marc mumbles. Madeline frowns at him.

"Don't call him that. Only I can." She says. Marc shakes his head, then his eyes go wide and he smiles.

"He hasn't told you, has he?" Marc asks. I furrow my eyebrows together and Madeline just narrows her eyes. No, Ben hasn't told us anything. Ben runs out of his room and into the living room, yelling at Marc not to say anything. Too late, Ben. We're going to find out now.

Madeline shakes her head and gestures for Marc to go on. Ben keeps pleading him, but Marc just chuckles. He looks back and forth between Ben, Madeline, and me.

"Fine, Ben. You tell them so I don't have to." Marc says. Ben gets a pitiful look and glares at Marc. Marc just shrugs his shoulders. Ben takes a deep breath and stands in the middle of the living room.

"Okay, so, um-"

"Spit it out, Benjamin." Marc says, looking at the watch on his wrist. Ben opens his mouth and closes it again.

He shakes terribly, bouncing nervously on the balls of his feet. He keeps stuttering and looking at the ground and curiosity is eating me alive. I rest my chin on my hand and tap my fingers on the coffee table, waiting for him to say something.