Ben's room was almost the opposite of Leo's.
Instead of Leo's dirty, inverted room, Ben's room was impossibly clean. Arbel thought that even if she searched, she wouldn't find any dust.
This probably shouldn't have surprised Arbel, Ben in general was very different from her little brother. To such an extent that she didn't really understand how they got along.
Where Leo was loud and outgoing, Ben was more quiet and reserved, Leo was optimistic and positive, and Ben was the coldest and most cynical person Arbel had ever met.
Even in appearance, they were different. Ben was Asian with black hair and smooth skin. Leo, on the other hand, was tanned and had hair that was bleached from the sun. Leo's hands were always covered in scrapes and bruises from the adventurous life he had led, And Ben looks like he's afraid to touch the mud.
In the end, Ben was more like Arbel than he was like her brother, and Arbel didn't know how she was supposed to feel about that.
Ben was standing in front of them with his arms folded. Making her feel like a little girl even though she was the older one. The room that felt like a museum only increased her sense of discomfort with the situation.
Fortunately, Rosie was here with her.
"You said you knew Arbel would come-" Rosie began, apparently deciding to abandon the small talk "-How did you know?"
Ben rolled his eyes "Arbel's brother disappeared, I assumed she had the basic sense to ask the person closest to him"
Arbel couldn't help herself, she snorted in amusement "Are you the person closest to him?"
Ben didn't even have the decency to look embarrassed "Do you want to ask questions or do you want to leave. It might surprise you but I have better things to do than talk to you"
"It will indeed surprise me" Arbel agreed and Rosie elbowed her.
Arbel folded her arms, not having the mental strength to talk to Ben on a good day. And It wasn't a good day
"Do you know where Leo is?" Arbel finally asked
Ben snorted contemptuously "If you knew I would do something, genius"
He said the last word with an eye roll.
"So it's not?"
Ben's face twisted "Of course it's not!"
Arbel nodded slowly, seeing Ben's temper even getting worse if that was possible.
Why the hell not, Let's push some buttons.
"You talk a lot-" Arbel stated "but, you don't seem to know anything."
Before the conversation continued to slide, probably over the edge at this rate, Rosie interrupted Ben and Arbel with a clap of her hands.
"It's obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes, or ears, that you don't each other-" Rosie's green eyes shifted from side to side "-but try not to be stuck up your ass just for a few minutes, okay? For Leo?"
Ben rolled his eyes, again, but didn't say anything, which was always an improvement.
Arbel sighed, leaning back a little before returning to the subject
"Was Leo acting strangely before he disappeared?"
She knew the word disappeared wasn't exactly appropriate here, but who could she say instead? Run away from home supposedly? Left the only family he had?
Ben shrugged, the look in his eyes softening a little
"He's a strange kid, it's really hard to tell when it's something different than usual"
Arbel almost smiled at the sentence. She had no doubt about it, from the day she met Leo until now, he kept reminding her at every moment that something was very wrong with him in his head.
"I know-" Arbel tried not to sound aggressive "-but try. Anything that might have been strange"
Ben pulled out the chair and sat down next to him
"There are his sleeping problems of course-" he began "-he would send me messages at odd hours and fall asleep everywhere. Besides, he looks like shit most of the time."
Rosie hummed to herself "He's always like that" she reminded
Ben's hands moved in the air as if he was trying to explain something and he didn't know the words
"But lately it's really gotten worse. I know it's a big vacation and there's no framework and all that but it's not like Leo's hours were Upside down and he sleeps during the day, It seemed like he didn't sleep at all, even when he fell asleep in a random place he would always wake up quickly"
Arbel furrowed her brow, was her brother more tired than usual? Without the school routine they barely saw each other during summer vacation, their schedules didn't overlap. Arbel slept at night and Leo during the day.
Arbel began to realize that this might be one of the many things she had missed.
"Anything else?" Rosie asked.
Ben began to raise his hand and count on his fingers
"He would travel to strange places, talk to people i didn't know how he knew, he was more nervous and on edge, and generally seemed more like a lost puppy than usual. He also completely refused to sleep at my house, but that's not surprising I guess"
Arbel looked up "Why isn't that surprising?"
For the first time, maybe since forever, Ben looked at her in confusion, instead of his usual condescending look. As if he really didn't know what she was talking about.
"You know-" he laughed out loud "-After Corey Leo refused to sleep over at anyone's place"
Then Ben frowned
"Not that any of us are trying to pressure him or anything. He's just usually the first one to like sleeping over at friends' or hosting. But after Corey he just... stopped"
Arbel's confusion only grew, and with it the feeling that she was missing something "Who the hell is Corey?"
The confusion on Ben's face turned to surprise, as if he really didn't believe what she said.
That look annoyed her a little.
"Corey Griffin-?" He repeated "-You know him, there's no way you don't"
Before Arbel could get annoyed at him because why does he think he knows better than her who she knows Rosie made a strangled noise.
"Wait-" she turned to Ben quickly "-Corey from the class below us, Corey who died?"
The blood in Arbel's veins cooled at that word, then turned to ice when Ben nodded.
Rosie turned back to her, "You know the story, Arbel-" she insisted, "- the whole school was talking about him. That kid who got run over on the road on the east side of town?"
Something clicked in her mind. She did remember, her whole school was all about this. Everyone, even those who didn't know him, were mourning and saying how great he was.
It felt hypocritical to Arbel even then, but she already knew that sometimes you shouldn't open your mouth.
"Wait-" her voice sounded strange to her ears, "- what's the connection between Corey and Leo? Why isn't Leo sleeping over at friends' place? Is it related to a child who is not even in the same age group as him?"
And a kid who died, she didn't say.
Something flashed on Ben's face before he went silent. As if he was holding his emotions inside, not giving a glimpse.
Arbel preferred the surprise and confusion, now she couldn't tell what Ben was thinking. But she had a strong feeling that it wasn't for her good.
"Of course it's related to-" Ben's voice was filled with cold anger, as if he didn't understand how she didn't know that
"-Leo slept at Cory's house the night before Cory died"