From Gumboots To Jimmy Choo's

At five the next morning, my alarm clock buzzed loudly. Groggily, I opened my eyes and slammed my hand down on the alarm, turning it off. I staggered out of bed and opened my curtains. It was still pitch black outside and was about an hour from dawn. I stretched my arms and could hear my bones clicking.
I changed out of my pyjamas and into a pair of track pants and a jersey, deciding to shower after I'd finished my chores. Tying my hair into a ponytail I left my room and walked outside, pulling my gum boots on.

"Morning doll!" Dad called, coming around the side of the house with a hay bale.

"Feeding the cows?" I asked him.

"Nah, just going to take this to the barn to stack with the rest." He said, walking away.

I stood up and grabbed the shed key from under the pot plant on the porch. I walked to the shed and unlocked it, switching on the light. I grabbed a small bucket and filled it up with chicken food. I made my way over to the coop and scattered the food over the ground for them. The air was cold and the wind slapped against my cheeks. The only light I could see were being emitted from the shed and the house. Before going back to the shed, I changed the chickens water. Back at the shed , I washed out the chicken bucket before grabbing a bigger one for the pigs and filling theirs with scraps.

It took me three trips to the shed before the pig trough was full. I refilled their water trough with the hose which had me standing there for a good ten minutes.

"Breakfast Zo!" Caleb yelled from the house.

"Coming!" I yelled back, turning off the hose. I ran back to the house and washed my hands before going into the kitchen and sitting at the table with my brothers. They were already scoffing down their food as I sat down. I filled my plate with the scrambled eggs and bacon dad had made for us.

"Are you guys going to come tomorrow?" I asked them, eating a forkful of eggs.

"Working." Chace said, giving me an apologetic look.

"I've got period's one to three off so yeah, I'll come." Tyler said, grinning.

"I can't. I have no free periods." Caleb moaned, shooting a jealous glare at Tyler who smirked.

"Dad?" I asked, looking at him.

"Well, I gotta drop you off don't I?" He smiled at me.

I grinned back at him before eating the rest of my breakfast, occasionally joining into the conversation.

"Did you feed Roo?" Dad asked as we cleared away the breakfast dishes.

Roo is my three year old Appaloosa horse. He has a snowflake coat and was given to us by my dad's friend because they were moving and had nowhere to put him.

"Nah, I'll finish up here and then take him a carrot and an apple I think." I replied as dad rolled his eyes.

"You spoil him." Dad chided as I shrugged, finishing wiping the dishes then drying my hands and walking back outside.

The sun was coming up over the horizon and turning the sky a multitude of fiery colours. I stood there for a few moments before it actually started to hurt my eyes. Turning my back on the blazing inferno, I walked into the shed and grabbed the bag of oats and out of the spare fridge we kept in there, I pulled out two carrots and an apple.

I crossed through one of the paddocks to get to the stables. There were about five stalls but we only used one. I unlocked Roo's gate and walked into his stall, my footsteps crunching against the straw.

I suppose you're thinking we must be pretty rich eh? Well guess again because we're not even close to it. Dad never has enough money to pay off the mortgage to the farm, there were tiles missing in our roof. We've even had to get our phone disconnected because of the phone bill. Each of us kids have got jobs and dad's even working double at the freezing works to try and pay things off. Life was pretty hard but I won't complain, I'd rather have all this then be sitting pretty in a Hollywood mansion with only material possessions to keep me company.

Roo whinnied softly as I ran my hand over his coat. I brushed him twice a day almost so it stayed soft and shiny. I poured the oats into his bucket and refilled his water bucket with the tap outside whilst he ate his food.

"Done?" Caleb asked as he stepped into the stable.

"Yeah, one moment. I'll just feed these to Roo." I said, giving Roo the carrots and apple. Within moments he had scoffed them down.

"He's such a pig." Caleb laughed, running his hand over Roo's coat.

"Shut up. He's hungry." I grinned as I gave Roo a kiss then left the stable with Caleb.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Caleb asked as we walked through the paddock slowly.

"Yeah. I-I don't want to muck up you know?" I confided, "I just really want to win this money for dad so everything around here can get fixed and we wouldn't be so far in debt."

"Zoe, you're fifteen, you don't need to worry about these things." Caleb said, slinging an arm around my shoulders and hugging me.

"But I do Cal." I moaned, stifling a yawn.

"Jeez, what time did you get to bed last night?" Caleb asked me as we sat on the front porch.

"Midn-yawn-ite." I responded, grinning in spite of myself.

Caleb shook his head, "Go to bed, I'll wake you up if anything important comes up."

"Thank's Cal." I said, hugging him before getting up and walking into the house, down to my bedroom and laying on my bed, sleep clouding my mind.

Caleb's P.O.V

"..You haven't even told her?" I questioned dad in disbelief as he shook his head, grinning.

"You know she's going to flip out when you tell her." Tyler said.

"Can I tell her?" Chace perked up, looking expectantly at dad.

"No. Anyway, I need to start getting the house ready for them. I don't think they're used to living like this." He said, looking at our tattered living room.

"Does anyone know they'll be coming here?" Tyler asked again.

"The country would be in uproar if anyone knew. So that's why you three need to keep quiet." Dad warned, giving us stern glares.

"Where are they sleeping?" I asked him.

"Well, I've decided for they're parents to be in the guest bedroom. Tyler, you're moving in with Chace, Caleb I'm with you so that leaves my room and Tyler's room for the boys. I figured the older two would be in mine and the younger one's in Tyler's." He replied.

"You do realise one of the 'younger' ones is actually Caleb's age right? So why don't you put him in with Caleb. The one whose my age can sleep in my room with me, then there's the oldest whose only about a year older than me so he can sleep in my room, then you've got your own room." Chace reasoned.

Dad nodded his head, "What about the youngest?"

"With his parents. The room's big enough." I said.

"Alright then, well I need you guys to clean up you're rooms then." Dad said, getting up.

"When will they be arriving?" Chace asked.

"Oh, right. Well, they'll be in tomorrow afternoon whilst me, Tyler and Zoe are at her audition." Dad said, leaving the room.

"Zoe's going to freak when she gets home." I laughed. Tyler and Chace agreed.

"Come on, we'd best go clean our rooms." I sighed, getting up and leaving the lounge.