Iris continued to work on her dress. As she was adding more to it she sensed someone staring at her. She looked to the right and saw the boy who was sitting next to her was focusing hard on his design. So Iris looked to the left and saw a girl with red curly hair staring at her. She narrowed her eyes at Iris and went back to her work. Iris quickly looked back at her sketchpad. What was her problem?

After class, Iris quickly packed up her things and walked out the door. She wanted to avoid the red headed girl. Iris was worried that glared meant she hated her.

Gabriel watched his students leave. It was a successful class overall. He already had a mental list of which students would need help and which students were decently talented. He couldn't help but think about Iris as she left. She had a decent amount of talent with good instincts and a willingness to learn from criticism. She had the most potential to succeed in his class.

He stood and gathered his things once all the students were gone. He still had time between now and lunch, so he headed to a nice, secluded part of campus to work on some sketches he needed to finish.

Iris was walking out her history class of the fashion world. It was a silly class, but it was an easy A so she couldn't complain. It was nearly lunch time. She was meeting up with her friend Lori at a cafe for Lunch. As she was making her way she noticed Mr. Agreste sitting on a bench by the school's fountain. She couldn't help, but be curious. She walked over to him and stood behind him. Iris saw him working on a sketch of a dress. It looked stunning. 

"Nice dress," said Iris. "But I would tone down the ruffles at the bottom."

Gabriel clenched his pencil, trying not to jump.  He never paid attention to his surroundings when he was sketching.  He never really needed to since most people found him completely unapproachable.

He glanced toward her, catching her in the corner of his eye.  "It's bold to critique your design professor on one of his designs; especially on your first day of class."

Even as he said it, he looked back to his design to erase a few ruffles and study it.  Hmm...  She was right.  There were a few too many ruffles.  Good eye..

Iris laughed at his comment and laughed even harder, when he took her advice. She leaned over the bench. "We're not in class are we?" She gave him a playful smile.

"We may not be in class, but I'm still you professor," Gabriel answered, shrugging as he set the sketchbook on his lap and turned to face her fully.  "I take it you're heading to lunch and decided it would be fun to sneak up on me?"

She smiled at him again. "No. I was just curious. Is that a crime?" Iris walked around the bench and sat down next to him. "Do you have other sketches? I would like to see them."

"I have plenty of other sketches," he answered almost condescendingly. Of course he had other sketches. Not only was he a design professor, but he also sold clothes to a small handful of clients on the side. He wasn't planning on teaching forever, so he needed to network as much as possible.

"I don't usually show people my sketches since it's easy for them to steal, intentionally or not. But.. I guess I could make an exception.." He slowly handed her the sketchbook while wondering why exactly he was entertaining this conversation in the first place. He was her professor, not her friend. They really had no business discussing anything but class.

Iris just stared at him. Wow that was rude, but yet she found it amusing for some reason. She just smiled at him and took the sketchbook. Iris study each sketch carefully. All of them were really good. Each paged she turned she was falling in love with his style. Why on earth was he teaching? He was wasting his talent. After she was done, Iris handed it back to him. "I love them. All of them were so elegant." she paused. "I wonder. Do you take commissions? I would love it if you design a dress for me."

Gabriel couldn't help but smile proudly when she praised his work.  He knew his designs were good, but it was nice to have some validation.  He was about to interject something about flattery when she continued.

He stared at her in surprise.  Her father was a well known fashion designer. Probably the most famous in Paris. Why would she want a dress from some unknown who couldn't even get hired as a designer?  Add that to the fact her father was one of the designers that sent him one of those terribly generic form letters thanking him for his application while simultaneously rejecting him...  It didn't line up.

"I do commission work on the side... But surely you have more well-known connections who would design you something for free?  I would have thought your father would make sure you had the best designers available to you."  

Oops.  He didn't mean to add that last part... Or the barely hidden disdain toward her father... Well, there went that deal...  Not that he was trying to befriend her or anything.  But it had been nice to have a student that actually seemed enthusiastic about his class.

Iris stared blankly at him. She though she heard some bitterness toward her father. She wondered why? Maybe he didnt like his style? No why would you be bitter about that? Oh, well it didn't matter. Iris didn't care what people thought about her father. She just smiled at him. "To be honest I make my own clothes. Sometimes my father makes me stuff, but I'm sick of his style. I want something different and your style is what I'm looking for."

Gabriel silently considered her reasoning. Either she hadn't picked up on his bitterness or she didn't care. It was interesting that she made her own clothes. No wonder she understood when to scrap a design.  She was definitely ahead of her peers because of it. 

"I see." He turned to a blank page in his sketchbook.  "What kind of dress were you looking for?"

"Hmm," she said as she thought about. What was she looking for? She loved summer dresses, but sadly summer was coming to an end. So something for the winter? Something to wear with boots? Oh! The mayor's ball was in October it would be nice to have a new ball gown. Ugh! She couldn't make up her mind. Iris started to play with her until an idea hit her. She just gave him a playful smile. "Surprise me!"

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. Surprise her? Who in their right mind would commission someone with no idea of what they wanted? It's not like he knew her that well. There were so many ways this could go wrong. Not to mention he couldn't fathom how anyone actually liked surprises. 

"You want me to design something without any input from you...?  Are you sure...?"

She nodded her head. "Yes! I think it would be fun." she paused for a second. "Show me the sketch after our next class. Now I need to get going. I'm meeting a friend for lunch. By Mr. Agreste! See you Wednesday." Iris got up from the bench and walked away.