| Ben Santiago | |
 | |
| Information | |
| Full Name | Benjamín Santiago |
| Nickname(s) | Ben (by everyone) |
| Gender | Male |
| Date of Birth | 2000-2001 |
| Network | |
| Family | Sophia Santiago (mother) |
| Relationships | Rayin Borah (boyfriend) Nicole Collins (ex-girlfriend) Rebecca Bera (ex-girlfriend) Ava Morry (ex-girlfriend) Max Bloomberg (ex-boyfriend) |
| Job | Student |
| School(s) | Lake Munro High School University of Detroit |
| Production | |
| First Episode | Cake By The Ocean (2704) |
| Portrayed By | Anthony Keyvan |
Ben Santiago is a junior at the University of Detroit. He is also a graduate in the class of 2019 at Lake Munro High School.
Character History[]
Starts Lake Munro in season 27 as a sophomore. He is smart and Rayin soon develops a crush on him. They get paired up on a school project and Rayin kisses him. Ben is caught by surprise and Rayin is embarrassed. Later, he confronts Rayin about the kiss and Rayin comes out to him. He accepts Rayin and the two remain friends. Later, he finds out about Nick and Nick's teacher and tries to get Nick out of it, but he does not want any help. In season 28, he decides to tell somebody about their relationship. He tells Mrs. Tirpack and gets Ms. Yates suspended. This angers Nick and he stops speaking to Ben. Nick then starts to skip school a lot and when Ben tries to text or call him, Nick ignores him. Later, he and Rayin begin to become closer friends. After Nick returns to school, Ben tries to talk to him, but he ignores Ben. In season 29, he makes one last attempt to get Nick to talk to him, which only kind of works. Nick does listen to Ben and he seeks help from the school counselor. Later, he develops feelings for Nicole. Their relationship moves quickly and they have sex in her car after their second date. During the lockdown, Nicole and Ben get trapped in a closet while they wait out the lockdown. They talk about their relationship and agree they need to slow things down. Later, she doubts her relationship with him and attributes her attraction to him as purely physical. This causes them to break up. In season 30, he develops feelings for Rebecca. He later asks her out on a date which she accepts. Later, he worries when she doesn't call him her boyfriend. She says he never asked her and the two make it offical. Later, after Nick gets into a car accident as the result of a drunk driver, Ben feels guilty because Ben had asked Nick to come over. Later, Rebecca breaks up with Ben after she plans on moving far away after graduation. In season 31, he connects with a girl online and begins chatting with her. Later, against the advice of his friends who believe she could be a predator, they meet at a coffee shop. She turns out to be who she says she is and the two have a nice date. Later, after going to Lake Munro's Halloween dance together, they have an argument. They continue to have problems as Ava does not trust Ben fully and they evantually break-up. Later, he begins chatting online with an (unknown) old friend. He later realizes he might have feelings for this person and goes to meet them in person. A college student named Jonah answers the door and by the end of the season it is still unclear who Ben has been talking to and has feelings for. In season 32, it is revealed that his secret crush is Rayin. He learns that Jonah is Rayin's boyfriend and he decides not to tell Rayin about his feelings, instead just saying he missed his friend. Later, he continues to hang out with Rayin and Jonah, but struggles with the decision of whether to tell Rayin how he really feels. Later, he is seen at Maleek's funeral and going to counseling sessions after his death. He also visits Noah in the hospital and comforts a grieving Skai. Later, his feelings for Rayin continue to grow stronger. Later, he tells Nick about his feelings and Nick suggests to stop seeing Rayin entirely, however Ben has a hard time doing that. Later, he and Nick both get their college acceptance letters to the University of Detroit. Later, Nick takes him to prom after Nick notices Ben has been upset about Rayin. He is later seen at graduation. In season 33, he moves in to his dorm room with Nick as his roommate. Later, he downloads a dating app to try to meet guys and experiment with his feelings about them. He struggles to label his sexuality as he is still not sure exactly who or what he likes. Later, after Nick gets really drunk at a party, Ben helps him get over a hangover. Later, Rayin and Jonah take him to a gay bar to meet guys. While at the bar, a much older guy hits on him and when Ben tries to reject his advances, the guy becomes more aggressive. Jonah comes over and tries to gets the older guy to leave and starts a fight. The bouncer kicks the older guy out, but lets Jonah, Ben, and Rayin stay. After this, he meets Max and the two hit it off. Later, Ben goes with Max to a haunted house as a first date. The date goes well, and they later make their relationship official. Later, he and Max make plans to spend time together over the winter break. In season 34, he and Max take their relationship to the next level. Later, when he and Max are out in public together, they are harassed for holding hands. In season 35, he and Max have Zoom dates during quarantine. Later, Rayin tells him that he and Jonah broke up. This complicates things for Ben because he realizes he still has feelings for Rayin but is also committed to his relationship with Max. He ends up having to stop hanging out with Rayin so he can focus on his relationship with Max. Later, he and Nick grieve Noah's death. He later attends Noah's funeral. He and Nick plan to be emotional support for Skai during this difficult time. In season 36, Max wants to meet Ben's parents, but Ben is not out to them yet. Max understands and supports Ben's decision to come out when he is ready. Later, Max suspects Ben still has feelings for Rayin. When Max confronts him about it, Ben doesn’t deny it, leading Max to break up with him. Max tells Ben that he hopes things with Rayin work out. Later, Ben talks to Rayin and tries to make thngs work one last time. Rayin shows up to the end of the semester dance and the two begin to date.
Trivia[]
- He has appeared in 97 episodes.