Read Abigail: Nice Girls Finish Last for Free Online Page B

the smartest man on the planet. He loves ballet but not those ‘ye olde world classics’. This is going to be such a waste of time, but Ethan begs me to stay. Offers to chorey as many dances as I want.
    â€˜You get this job, I’m taking a percentage,’ I warn him.
    I start as Ethan’s ‘human show reel’ and this Finn guy manages to look up for all of five seconds. ‘Yeah, yeah, that’ll do,’ he says. That’s all it took for him to make up his mind. Then suddenly he’s all over us.
    â€˜That was amazing. I’m in love with you. Both,’ he says and asks us to stick around for the cast auditions. This is more like it. I’ve always wanted to be the mean judge on a panel and the starlets auditioning for this show are begging to be taken down. Complete talent vacuums.
    Later in the evening Ethan catches me in the rehearsal studio. He left the score for the musical on his keyboards. It’s total hokesville but I can’t help singing a couple of the cheesy lines.
    â€˜Busted,’ he says from behind me. He claims he’s trying to make Finn’s dream a reality.
    â€˜So noble.’
    â€˜You can help me,’ he says. Ethan needs to hear the singing so he can start imagining the choreography.
    You make believe, that it’s safe where it’s warm
    I belt out the line in my worst rock musical voice, but Ethan makes me sing it ‘nicely’. The words aren’t great, but the music isn’t horrible and singing is easy. At the end, Ethan looks at me like I’ve sung Act III of La Traviata .
    â€˜What?’ I say. ‘Any imbecile can sing. You open your mouth, sounds come out.’
    â€˜Not like that,’ he says. Obviously easily impressed.
    As second rate as Ethan’s choreography job is, Kat feels the need to celebrate by hiring a boat for everyone to spend an afternoon on the harbour. I go, but I don’t see the point in celebrating mediocrity. As much as I want Ethan around, he’s worth so much more than fringe musicals. Sometimes you shouldn’t just accept people for who they are, sometimes you need to let them know who they could be.
    It may be on the harbour, but it’s the usual Academy party: boys showing off, Kat being loud and me sitting alone. I look at the harbour, wondering if anyone is going to be the friend Ethan needs. Am I the only one with the strength to push him away? He joins me on the deck.
    â€˜So I think we should go out. On a proper date,’ he says.
    â€˜You do?’
    â€˜That kiss – your eyes were closed. I was watching.’
    My eyes were closed, but they’re not now. ‘I’m not attracted to you. I like guys with ambition.’
    He laughs, but I can tell he’s hurt. He needs to be.
    â€˜You used to be Ethan Karamakov, star of third year. You turned down a place in the Company so you could be a choreographer. And then you stayed here because …?’
    â€˜I wanted to learn. I wasn’t ready to go out on my own.’
    â€˜It’s okay. Some people are never equipped to leave their comfort zones.’
    Not long after our little chat, I see Ethan and Kat talking seriously, then Kat jumps up and announces that Ethan is going to Barcelona. Everyone claps, but no one thanks me for being the Karamokov family’s personal life coach and trainer. I get Kat back into the Academy and Ethan back on his career track. The least they could offer is dinner with the parents.
    Instead all I get is the return of the rival. Tara’s back at the Academy. I never thought I’d feel sorry for Tara, but you’d have to be beyond ice not to feel for her. The injury she hid during the Prix de Fonteyn and got expelled over was caused by Saskia. She was stretching out Tara’s leg, pushed too hard and something cracked. Ben was there, he heard the crack. I knew from The Red Shoes incident that Saskia had it in for Tara, but causing injuries?