The Moment Keeper by Buffy Andrews

material?”
    Rachel and I nodded. Grandma was making us matching outfits for a skit/dance number that we, well, mostly Rachel, had choreographed. She was making us red pants with elastic waistbands and short-sleeve white tops with red polka dots that tied in the front. She found the material on the clearance rack and picked it up for pennies.
    “Well, OK, then. I should have your outfits done by the end of the week.”
    Rachel and I hugged Grandma. By the night of the talent show, we had practiced our number so many times that even Rachel’s dog left the room when he saw us moving the furniture so we had room to dance. Normally, that shaggy mutt wouldn’t leave Rachel’s side.
    That’s why I could never figure out what happened the night of the show. Maybe it was because Grandma had a severe case of bronchitis and couldn’t come. Maybe I was nervous because we followed Tracey Carmichael, who wore the most beautiful ballet costume I had ever seen. It was pink with sequins and pearls on the bodice and a tutu with four layers of heavily gathered tulle.
    I’m not sure what it was, but I froze. I couldn’t move. So Rachel did what she always did. She covered for me. She danced around me and made it look as if I was supposed to just stand there. I didn’t know what to do. But I had remembered that Rachel had told me that if I got too scared, just to smile and pretend I was enjoying myself. So, that’s what I did. And eventually my brain believed that I was happy and I began to move. A little. Then more until I mirrored Rachel’s movements. People thought I was supposed to be a doll that came to life, and Rachel never told them any different.

Chapter 16
    “Mom,” Olivia shouts. “Can I play the flute?”
    “I’m in the basement,” Elizabeth yells. “I can’t hear you.”
    Olivia walks down the basement steps. Elizabeth looks up from the box she’s packing with old Christmas decorations to take to the Goodwill store.
    “Can I play the flute? Can I? Can I?”
    “What in the world made you ask to play the flute?”
    “We got this paper today in school about learning to play an instrument. If I play the flute, I can be in the band.”
    “And you think that you have enough time in your busy schedule to play the flute?”
    Olivia nods.
    “Let’s talk about it tonight when Dad gets home.”
    Olivia sighs. “OK. But I really do want to play.”
    Grandma wanted me to play the violin. She had an old one that had been in her family for years. She took it to an instrument repair shop and struck a deal with the owner. He would put new strings on it, rehair the bow, and throw in a cake of resin and a chin rest. In exchange, Grandma would alter a couple pairs of pants that no longer fit him since he had a gastric bypass. Everyone was happy, most of all Grandma.
    The teacher who directed the junior and high school orchestras gave lessons to third-graders who were just starting out. I was in a group with three other students. We met once a week during the afternoon recess in the music room.
    My heart just wasn’t into playing the violin. I wanted it to be. I wanted to make Grandma proud. I thought that if I played the violin and got really good at it that it would give Grandma something to brag about to the other ladies she worked with at the bridal shop where she did alterations. But I stunk.
    “Sarah,” Miss Wagaman said one day. “Can you stay after class for a minute? I’ll write you a pass to return to your class.”
    I packed up my violin, taking my time so that the other kids had a chance to leave. I felt my face heat up. I thought Miss Wagaman was going to yell at me.
    “Come, sit beside me.”
    I sat on the cold metal folding chair next to her.
    “Do you like playing the violin?”
    I looked down at the tan speckled floor streaked with black shoe marks. “My Grandma wants me to play. This violin has been in her family forever.”
    “That’s not what I asked. Do you want to play?”
    “Well, I practice