Read Online Thrice Uncharmed (Wynne d’Arzon) by Cara Lee - Free Book Online Page B

Dome, was the best club in the whole universe. It was where all the celebs hung out. Then I remembered that the club was so exclusive that anyone not considered beautiful enough was turned away.
    “Do you think I’ll get in?” I asked, never doubting for a moment that Summer would.
    She tilted her head and scrutinised my face. I flushed, knowing that my nose was too long and my face too round to be considered beautiful. Then she nodded. “Tamara’s giving us both a makeover. By the time she’s finished with us we’ll look so gorgeous we’d get in anywhere. Anyway,” she added with a grin. “We’ll be with Leo and Tamara. They wouldn’t dare turn us away.”
    Leo and Tamara, Summer’s parents, liked Summer and her nine-year-old brother, Kyle, to call them by their names, not Mum and Dad. They were mega-cool and mega-rich. Leo was a top surgeon at the exclusive Fernbrook Clinic, and Tamara was a beauty consultant to the celebs. They were about the same age as my parents but appeared years younger thanks to their numerous tummy tucks, face lifts and body restructuring--courtesy of Leo’s best friend, Dale Wyckham, who was reputed to be the best Physical Perfection surgeon in the entire world.
    “That’ll be brill!” I told her.
    Apart from the fact that I was dying to go to Roxy’s, I loved staying at Summer’s house. It was a detached four-storey river pad and she had the whole top floor to herself. Kyle had the third floor, her parents the second, and they all shared the bottom floor. They each even had a massive, luxury bathroom. Her parents’ top-of-the-range cars, a black Nepha for her dad and a silver Pino for her mum, were parked underneath the house. The river pads were on stilts because of the floods so both the Nepha and Pino were waterproof and could float on water.
    Our terraced three-storey was nowhere near as posh, with the kitchen and lounge downstairs, Mum and Dad’s bedroom, Josh’s bedroom and the bathroom on the second floor and my bedroom, Dad’s study and the storeroom on the top floor.
    “I’ll have to go home and pick up some stuff first,” I added. I checked the time on my squilb. “Shall we go after we’ve finished these?”
    I wanted to get my clothes and be out of the house before Dad got home because I knew he’d be annoyed that I was staying over at Summer’s house again. He said it was because Mum needed me to help with Josh, but I think it was because Summer’s parents, with their big house and posh cars, made him feel a bit…inadequate. Like he wasn’t good enough. I sort of understood how he felt.
    Summer was a brilliant friend but I couldn’t help being an itsy bit jealous of her. She was beautiful, rich and even had her own brand new top-of-the-range pink eco-bug while I had to travel around on commcab or speedrail. Honestly when luck was dealt out, Summer got a whole bucket load while I think I was somewhere at the back of the queue.
    As we turned onto my street. I saw a black Ministry car outside our house and immediately tensed. “Looks like you’ve had another visit,” Summer said, glancing at me.
    The front door opened, two dark-suited Ministry Officials came out, and strode down the path to the waiting car. I caught a brief glimpse of Mum at the door before it closed and my heart went out to her as I thought of the grilling she must have just had.
    “I hate them.” I clenched my fists. “Why can’t they leave us alone?”
    “Try not to worry, they’re just doing their job. They can’t make you put Josh in a RLC,” Summer reminded me.
    “Not yet,” I chewed my lip. “But what if they make a new law?”
    The Ministry were always making laws ‘for the good of the people’. We lived in constant fear of having Josh taken from us and placed in a Residential Learning Centre.
    I saw Mum was upset as soon as we walked in, but she managed a weak smile. “Hello girls. Had a good time?”
    “We saw those Ministry guys leaving,” I told her. “Were