Ben chooses to not speak because of an incident from when he was in 7th or 8th grade, and this remains in his character throughout the comic. He opts to write in his journal, send text messages, or have his phone read what he wants to say aloud. Ben used to love singing, but had his voice permanently damaged by bullies in school. The incident led him down a spiral of getting into street fights and neglecting school. After finding out that he had anger issues, he started living with Aiden and his parents. He began therapy soon thereafter and is currently shown to be level-headed in most situations. After injuring his voice, Ben struggled and continues to struggle with his sense of self and is often shown to differ to Aiden, going along with whatever he decides ben and his friends (aiden, ashlyn, logan, tyler, taylor) are fighting about going back to savannah or staying in gorgia while Ben has his headphones in and is listening to music sometimes writing something in his journal