Falling | Tyler, The Creator

First Chapter: Louise

My name is Louise Dubois. I am 26 years old and I am an architect. I just graduated from École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Paris-Belleville about a year ago. For practically my whole life, I lived in a city called Angers in France. It was my dad's hometown. He lived there until he was 23, after that, he decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue his dreams.

My dad was an architect too. The city of Los Angeles had a lot of great opportunities for him. He showed me how to appreciate every building and see them in a different eye. I became an architect because of him. I am very grateful to him. Growing up, I wasn't as close with him as I was with my mom. He always had a lot of work to do, but somehow, always managed to have time for his family.

My mom was raised in Los Angeles, her whole family lived there. My parents met each other there a few years before I was born. When they first met, they instantly fell in love with each other. They  were inseparable. Two years after they got together, they got married and then had me.

We lived in L.A until I was about 15 years old. My dad decided it was time for us to go back to France because his mom was starting to get old. My mom didn't want to leave her whole life behind her but she hesitantly decided to follow my dad. She didn't regret it, France was and still is so beautiful. Plus, there were great schools for me and she knew that I would like it there.

I was so heartbroken and scared to leave Los Angeles. I had to leave my first and only friend behind me, Christopher Francis Ocean. Frank really was my only friend. I didn't get along very well with the girls at my school, we didn't like the same stuff. Growing up, I was really into music, and Frank too. It was our thing, we would spend entire days listening to old records we found at the thrift store. We had a very special connection, we had always felt like separated at birth twins. Frank was very outgoing, unlike me. I knew he wasn't going to have trouble finding new friends. I wish I could say the same thing for me, but it wasn't the case.

Being a teenager in France was okay, I guess. I didn't have a lot of friends but I somehow never felt alone. I discovered a lot of french artists and I would always send new music I liked to Frank. It was our little thing. I have had a few boyfriends but it was never serious. I always bailed out of these relationships because I wanted to keep it private. I hated when people were in my business. My ex partners didn't appreciate that. I was really hard to open up, it was just in my nature.

Growing up in France really developed my love for architecture. I was always so impressed with the buildings and I fell in love with it. My mom used to take me to Paris every spring break. I was really close to my mom. We always walked around the city the whole week. My dad was very occupied with work, he never really went on these trips with us. It broke my heart a little every time but I sadly became used to it. I loved my dad, I really did, but he has never been around as much as i would've wanted him to.