"So how about we go get something to eat first."
"No thanks, unless your hungry. I would rather buy my dress first. I don't want to feel all bloated from food while trying on dresses."
"Alright. I think I know the perfect place."
Phoebe drove to the downtown and went into the nicest dress store that she knew of. They looked around for a while until someone finally came up to help them.
"So what kind of dress are you looking for today?"
"Well actually we're looking for a prom dress for this young lady right here."
"I see. Well…"
The young teenaged sales lady turned around, she hadn't noticed Nancy right away, and her reaction was not that wonderful.
"Oh how nice…well let's see, you would want something short, how about a nice pants set."
"To wear to a prom?"
"I'm sorry, I just…."
"Don't worry about it….Pheebs we could try some place else."
"No, this place has the best stuff. Miss I understand you probably never had to fit someone in a wheel chair for a dress, but there's a first time for everything. Now what we are looking for is something that is somewhat long, but not very wide. Strapless would be alright, but if it has to have sleeves they need to be short and give her plenty of mobility."
The sales lady looked at her like she was speaking a foreign language. Phoebe thought she had made their needs really clear, but yet the young woman still looked totally confused.
"Is there a problem over here?"
"Oh Miss Robins, no problem, I was just…"
"Listen Linda, why don't you go and stock the shelves over there, I can help these nice people."
"Really, I think I can…"
"GO and stock the shelves."
"Sure."
Linda walked away with her cheeks beat red, and head hanging down. Miss Robins walked over to Phoebe and shook her hand.
"Sorry about that, I'll speak to her later. Right, now I heard what you are looking for, and I think we can accommodate your needs. Do you have a color in mind?"
"Navy blue."
"Alright, I have a few choices over here. Why don't we get her into a changing room and see which one looks the best."
Phoebe and Nancy followed the nice lady into a room then she left them to pick out five different dress, each in different shades of blue. They tried each one on, but the best one was to wide on the sides and got in the way of the wheels.
"This would be perfect, but I can't move my chair, the dress might rip."
"I think I can take care of that, let me get this…"
She picked up a bucket filled with pins and bent down and started pinning the dress in different places, moving it around till it was out of the way of the wheels.
"How's that?"
"Perfect. Phoebe can we get this one?"
"Can the alterations be done in a week? The dance is next Saturday."
"I will make it happen. How about you come back on Wednesday for a final fitting and we'll go from there."
"That's cutting it kind of close, if you can't make it happen we won't have time to find something else."
"You have my word. I also will not have you put down a deposit, just payment in full when you pick up the dress."
"Well Nancy if this is the dress you want, then we'll have to do it this way."
"Alright. Sounds good."
Phoebe filled out the order form set the time when they would return on Wednesday, then her and Nancy headed back to the car.
"Phoebe, I need to say something."
"Alright."
"I appreciate how you tried to make this easy when that first girl couldn't or wouldn't help, but it was a little embarrassing."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you."
"I know. I knew the girl just wasn't comfortable helping us, next time could we just tell her we want to look around on our own, then find someone else to help us."
"People shouldn't feel uncomfortable around people who are different then them."
"I know that, but I don't need to be the poster child for them to learn with. I won't always be in this chair, I can deal with people acting weird, as long as it's not my family."
"Alright, sorry."
"No problem, can we go to the club and see if Piper wants to go to lunch with us."
"Sure."
Phoebe jumped in the van and off they went to P3. Phoebe thought about the way she handled the dress shop girl, she was glad that Nancy had the courage to actually say something to her. She never wanted to make Nancy uncomfortable and made a metal note to next time take Nancy's lead in a situation like that.
Arriving at P3, Nancy was smiling ear to ear. She spent the whole drive bouncing around to the music that Phoebe loved to crank up loud. Nancy loved driving with Phoebe more then just about anyone, except Chad, because she let Nancy control the radio, and play whatever music she was in the mood to listen to.
"Phoebe do you always drive with the music that loud?"
They both jumped as they had not noticed Prue walk up to the drivers side window to bust Phoebe about the music.
"You scared the hell out of me. What are you doing here?"
"Well, things are pretty slow at work today since Jack and I have gotten so far ahead, so I let myself have a short day. So, what's up? Did you buy a dress?"
"Well, yes and no. We found a dress, but it has to be altered. So, we will pay for it on Wednesday when we go to pick it up."
"Great. Then can I have my card back?"
"Can it wait for us to get inside miss impatient."
Walking into P3 they noticed that Piper was on the phone so Nancy and Prue sat down at a table off to the side while Phoebe went to the jukebox to play some music. She danced her way back to the table.
"What are all you guys doing here?"
"Well Phoebe and I wanted to know if you wanted to go to lunch with us?"
"Lunch? It's almost 2:00."
"I know but the shopping took longer then we expected."
"Did you find a dress?"
"Sure did, wait until you see the dress. She is a knock-out."
"Pheebs, my card.."
Phoebe reached into her purse and pulling out the card, just as John, Piper's assistant came walking up to the table.
"Piper, there is a kid at the door who wants to see you."
Piper turned around to see who would be at the club so early in the afternoon, let alone a kid.
"Oh, that's Chad, let him in John."
"Are you sure? He is underage…"
"I know that thanks for being so cautions, but we're not open yet. Besides that's Nancy's boyfriend."
"Oh in that case…."
John walked back over to the door and ushered Chad inside walking him over to the table then excusing himself.
"Hello, ladies."
"Chad, what are you doing here?"
Chad walked over and kissed Nancy then sat in the seat next to her.
"Well, I wanted to drop off this stuff for Piper. You need to sign them. It's the rules and stuff that we had drawn up for Prom night. The principal said that he trusts you and all, but since this is a bar, he needs to cover his own butt."
"Well, I can understand that. I got the last of the permits yesterday. I have already started making arrangements for some employees to move all the liquor into the storage room after we close on Friday night. You guys won't be able to do the decorations until after the bar closes on Friday, so most of the work will have to be done early Saturday morning. But I will have some staff here to help, and you said that a lot of kids would help too, so that shouldn't be a problem."
"Great. I have a rough estimate of the amount of kids who will be here. I also listed the chaperones that will be attending, you know other parents, teachers, and members of the facility. The band will need at least two hours before the Prom to set up, so if it is at all possible to let them in early that would be great."
"What band did you get?"
"Kid Power. They play a lot of Eighties stuff. They were really good when they played at our Homecoming last year, so we thought, why not?"
"I know a lot of the kids from the band. I watched them rehearse last month after school and they are really good."
The wheels in Nancy's head started turning as a thought came into her mind.
"Chad before I forget here's the color of my dress, you said you wanted it for your tie, and um, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure."
The two of them went away from the table and the girls watched as they headed off to the corner and began to whisper to each other. They noticed Chad pull out his cell phone and make a quick phone call, nod his head yes to Nancy before they returned to the table.
"Um, Mom, can Chad and I go somewhere?"
"Where do you want to go?"
"Um, just someplace…"
"Sorry sweetie, you're thirteen years old, and someplace doesn't work for me."
"I want to go over to my friend Anna's house. She's a friend from school, who has been begging me to come over and see her dress for the prom."
"You haven't even had any lunch."
"It's alright, I can grab something while we're out."
"Well, I guess. What time will you be home?"
"Around 7 p.m. or so."
"That's fine, but you call if you're going to be late."
"I promise. Chad, why don't you meet me at the car?"
"Sure. Bye everyone, see you later."
"Pheebs, thanks for today, most of it was really great."
Phoebe knew which part wasn't.
"No problem, what are sisters for."
Nancy made her way around the table, hugged Phoebe, and then gave Prue and Piper a kiss. She headed out the back door since that was the only way she could get in and out. The front door didn't have a ramp.
"So, how did it go today, Pheebs?" "Fine. We found a really great dress..."
"That's not what I meant and you know it."
"Oh right, well, it was really rough for her and Jamie said it was only going to get rougher. She said we will all have to push her. She really doesn't want to do this stuff, but she has to Prue, and you know it."
"I know. I just can't stand to see her hurting."
"Listen you're getting better. I mean, you didn't come running up the stairs when she fell yesterday."
"Well, that was different."
"I know. Don't worry, I will be the mean guy, if it's too much for you to handle. I'll have to start tonight, she has to have some special exercises to stretch out the muscles in her legs done every night. They are very uncomfortable for her, but she needs them. You guys will have to learn how to do them."