Looking back at her speechless was Newt. He was almost knocked off his feet as boys swarmed around him congratulating him and teasing him. Antoinette turned to the other guys who had been standing behind her. Blaise was trying to keep himself from smiling, the sides of his lips twitching. Gally was nodding with a sour expression on his face. Minho kept looking between her and Newt, seemingly unsure what to do with himself. Alby came up to her and put a gentle hand on her head.

"Good choice," he told her," I can worry about you less knowing you chose him. He'll take good care of you."

Everything felt unreal to her at the moment, so she just nodded at him. Before anyone else could approach her, Minho suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her away from the amassing crowd with Blaise and Gally watching him take her away. He stopped by some of the sleeping areas, only yards away from the group of boys who had swallowed Newt. Minho put his hands on her shoulders.

"I need you to tell me that you really have feelings for Newt. I need to hear you tell me that right now."

The girl stared at him, her jaw hanging loose. She glanced back at the group of boys before looking Minho in the eyes.

"I really do like Newt."

Her best friend visibly relaxed. He gripped her shoulders before letting go.

"Good. You two deserve to be happy."

"But Minho, I don't even know if he likes me. For all I know he could be really angry with me. Definitely embarrassed."

Minho stared at her, seriously examining her face. He seemed about to say something, but changed his mind. He shook his head before turning her back toward the boys.

"I'm going to let you and him sort that out. I can guarantee you this: he won't be angry. And you know that, too."

Antoinette bit her bottom lip, still worried. How could she possibly tell Newt she has feelings for him? Minho tapped her shoulder, getting her attention.

"Just so you know, I like you. I would have been happy if you chose me, but I'm also glad you like Newt. He's always here for you and you can rely on him. Choosing me would have been really difficult. Did you at least…consider me?"

She smiled at him and put a hand on his arm.

"I did, Minho. But you're my best friend. You understand me better than most of the guys, but there are things that…only Newt was able to help me with. And part of it is the fact that he is always here. I want to keep an eye on him as much as he keeps an eye on me. Thank you for liking me, Minho, and thank you for understanding my feelings. You're…still going to be my best friend, right?"

Minho laughed and punched her arm gently.

"You can't get rid of me that easy. Not ever."

Antoinette hugged him before turning back to the crowd, which was beginning to thing. Boys were throwing winks and suggestive eyebrow wiggles her way. Her face burned with embarrassment.

"What have I done?" she hissed, making Minho snort.

"You kissed the guy you like in front of every Glader, what did you expect to happen? Tell you what, you head to your room and I'll get Newt to meet you there, okay?"

She hesitated slightly before nodding and turning toward the Homestead. As she made her way there, Blaise fell into step beside her.

"That was the best thing I have ever seen happen in the Glade," he told her," Also the ballsiest, I'm super impressed!"

"Thanks. I happen to be mortified."

"So…is Newt a good kisser?"

Antoinette held nothing back this time as she punched him in the arm. He only laughed and rubbed his arm.

"Sheesh. Sorry, I was just curious how your first kiss was. Forgive my curiosity, I've never kissed anyone before."

"And if you keep on being picky, you never will."

"Now you're just being mean to me because you made a scene."

"I made a scene?"

"Okay… you contributed to an already occurring scene."

Antoinette stopped at the door of the Homestead to look at her friend in the torchlight. Blaise had his serious expression back on his face.

"It's going to be okay, you know," he told her," Just…tell him how you honestly feel."

Antoinette looked past him to see Minho already dragging Newt across the Glade.

"Blaise, look at him! He doesn't even want to see me."

Blaise turned and raised an eyebrow.

"No, that's called pure confusion. Or shock. Maybe both. Just go up to your room. If you aren't back down in an hour, I'll know you two got busy. Little innocent Antoinette getting-"

This time she kicked him in the leg. He glared at her, rubbing his shin.

"If you keep this up, I might start to take the abuse personally. Go on!"

He pushed her into the Homestead and closed the door. Antoinette stood in front of the door for a moment before going up to her room. She sat on her bed with a sigh. She suddenly stood up. If she sat on the bed, he might think she was inviting something. She ran over to the bench and sat down on that instead. She jumped up again, wondering if that was too casual. She moved across the room to the wall, considering leaning on it. She shook her head. That would just be her posing. She groaned as she looked around the room. She was just turning to lock the door so he couldn't come in when the door opened. She jumped and ended up leaning against the wooden frame at the end of her bed. Newt awkwardly closed the door most of the way before looking at her. She was shocked as he smiled at her.

"That was brilliant."

Antoinette frowned as Newt crossed the room to sit on her bed.

"Uhm, how do you mean?"

"For an arbitrary choice, I mean. Did you pick randomly or did you mean to choose me?"

Antoinette was confused by what she was hearing.

"I chose you…"

"Then you really are brilliant! You chose me because I'm second-in-command, right? Alby would have been a guarantee that no one would bother you ever, but he would have also been really stiff and boring. I, on the other hand, am close to you and by giving that little display back there, no one is going to question us. Now, I'll say this right out. When you actually figure out who you like, I am not going to be the kind of guy who gets upset. I understand that you will eventually like someone. We can make our parting as public as today. You would have to wait a little bit before moving into the next relationship, but that's the only thing with that. For now, we can just act like we're together. That startup was great, but if you never want to do that again, I totally get it. We can just stick to hand holding and simple stuff when others are watching. Sound good?"

Antoinette stared at him. He thought she picked him arbitrarily. How did he come to that conclusion?

"I-I'm a bit…confused," she admitted.

Newt got up and went over to her. She jumped slightly as he pulled her into a hug.

"I understand. Tonight was stressful. I'll take care of everything until you're feeling less confused and embarrassed. You shouldn't feel that way at all. I didn't mind. I'll let you get some rest. Oh, wait, you didn't have dinner yet. Did you want me to bring you some?"

As Newt pulled back to look at her, she just shook her head. He nodded and fully let go of her.

"Well, I'll come by first thing in the morning, okay? I'm sorry that things are going to be weird for a while, but I think we will get used it. See you tomorrow."

He waved before heading out the door. Antoinette stood still in the middle of her room feeling slightly windswept. Turning to the door she moved over and locked it. She stiffly changed into her nightclothes before crawling into bed.

"He didn't even consider that I might actually like him. That means…he doesn't like me."

Antoinette buried her head in her pillow as tears began to fall. Her chest hurt as she began to heavily sob into the pillow.

"So stupid," she repeated over and over again until she was asleep, unsure if she was saying that about Newt or herself.