The Stolen Melody, Reclaiming My Music

I was a gifted musician. After graduation, I got into the elite Crestview Conservatory with honors. At the same time, I gained a small following online for my song covers.

But when I posted my first original song, the comments were filled with accusations of plagiarism. Even my classmates looked at me with judging eyes, telling me I should apologize.

When I listened to the song they mentioned, my heart dropped. The melody was exactly the same as mine, but it had been posted just one day earlier.

The creator was from the same school as me. The only difference was that she was a dance major.

I tried to prove I didn't steal it, but I couldn't explain why the sheet music was identical.

Furious fans reported me to the school. Even my kindest professors looked at me with nothing but disappointment.

They even tracked down my home address. They sent funeral wreaths to my parents, which gave my father a heart attack. He ended up in the ICU.

My phone was constantly blowing up with hateful calls.

In a state of mental exhaustion, I lost my footing and fell into the river. The cold water filled my lungs until I took my last breath.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day before I posted the song.

The river had been stealing my breath. Right before the feeling of suffocation took me, I gasped, sucking in a huge lungful of air. I snapped my eyes open in terror.

The dorm was quiet. There was no sound except for the hum of the AC.

I raised my hand and slapped myself hard. It stung. This wasn't a dream.

I had been reborn.

My roommate in the next bed heard the noise and looked over. Seeing the red mark on my face, she frowned. "Lia? Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare or something?"

I opened my mouth, my voice sounding hollow. "Just a mosquito."

She shrugged and went back to her reality show. "By the way, didn't you say you were dropping a new song? When is it going live? Your girl is ready to hype it up!"

The song!

I looked at my phone on the nightstand with shaking hands. The produced track was saved there, but I hadn't finalized the lyrics yet.

In my past life, it was today that I had a burst of inspiration. I finished the lyrics and excitedly posted the demo online.

I thought it was the start of my career.

I didn't know it was the start of a living hell.

Within an hour, the hashtag about my plagiarism hit the trending page.

The gossip blogs swarmed like vultures. They tore apart my music and my sheet music. Every comparison chart made me look like a thief.

For every person praising Kenna Quinn, there were a thousand people flooding my account with insults.

I posted a video trying to explain. I showed my entire production process, but people called it a staged performance.

Kenna's teary eyes and soft smiles on camera made everyone see me as the villain. They photoshopped my face onto headstones. They sent obituaries to my parents.

When I went outside, Kenna's fans threw lattes and rotten trash at me. Someone even threw a rock that left me bleeding and bruised.

The photo of me covered in blood went viral. It was the climax of the cyberbullying.

After days of non-stop harassment, I lost my mind. I slipped into that water.

Just thinking about the pain of dying made me tremble uncontrollably.

I opened Kenna's social media. She had posted a new video an hour ago.

She was sitting at a piano, looking elegant and high-class while playing a short melody. Her caption read: "Surprise countdown."

Kenna was a dancer. During freshman orientation, her performance in a traditional outfit made her the school's goddess.

Even my childhood best friend, Silas Shaw, was obsessed with her. Every time I mentioned Kenna, his eyes would stay glued to her.

I had suppressed my feelings for him and tried to just be a good friend.

Online, her dance videos had millions of fans. Every post got hundreds of thousands of saves.

This piano video was a huge surprise to her fans. They were screaming about how their goddess was multi-talented.

But my brows shot up. That was a specific bridge from the song I wrote!

I did everything for this song, from the sheet music to the production. Even when I let people hear snippets, it was only in pieces. How did she get the full score?

And the lyrics in her caption were identical to what I had planned...

I gripped my phone. As the video looped, my racing heart finally slowed down.

Whatever the cost, I had to find the truth this time. I wasn't going to die a nameless death again.

I went to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face. I sat at my desk and listened to my track, searching for any clues from my past life.

I replayed every memory like a knife to my heart.

Anxiety and rage threatened to take over. But suddenly, a new spark of inspiration hit me.

I grabbed my guitar and hit record on my phone. My fingers began to pluck the strings. It started as a random melody but turned into something wild.

It was like a storm hitting my heart. The music pulled me into a world where only sound existed.

I poured all my grief and anger into the music. I let the strings scream about the darkness and the madness I had faced.

When I finished, my hand left the strings. They were still vibrating, just like my fingers.

I opened my eyes, feeling a strange sense of peace.

I saw my roommate staring at me, her jaw on the floor. I didn't say a word. I just turned to my laptop and started producing the track.

The inspiration was overflowing. I rewrote the score and the lyrics from scratch.

I grew up in a normal family. Studying music was both a surprise and a destiny for me.

A teacher discovered my talent when I was a kid. Under their guidance, I convinced my parents to let me pursue this path.

I started posting videos to help my parents with the bills. It was hard at first, but I learned to edit and film everything myself. Eventually, I made enough to pay for extra instrument classes.

This song was my first attempt at a full original piece. I had stitched together different ideas I'd had over the years.

In my last life, the song had flaws because it was my first time.

But this new burst of inspiration allowed me to build on the original. I added so much more raw emotion and depth.

The sun began to set.

I didn't want to disturb my roommate, so I took my laptop to the practice rooms.

I worked through the entire night.

When I finally opened the door the next morning, a classmate was standing there in shock. "Lia? Are you trying to kill us with your work ethic? You're already a big influencer. Leave some air for the rest of us!"

She was being dramatic, but it made me smile.

"I just had a spark," I said. "I wanted to finish it while it was fresh."

I knew she was joking. Our professors always praised my talent, which put a lot of pressure on me. I had stayed up for more than just one night to get this right.

I wanted to give my fans a surprise for my three-year anniversary on the app.

I looked at the new version on my phone and felt a weight lift off my shoulders.

My classmate sighed. "Must be nice. I have to write down every little idea and hope I can turn it into a song later."

Her words hit me like a lightning bolt. But a second later, I felt a wave of dread.

In my previous life, I had shown my logs and records. Nobody believed me because the mob was already out for blood.

I stared at the sheet music on my screen. An idea formed. I modified a section of the bridge to match a currently trending TikTok sound and saved it in a folder on my desktop.

Then, I deleted my real version and saved it onto an encrypted flash drive.

I didn't know how Kenna was getting my work, but I had to be ready.

If she was stealing from my laptop, she was going to get a fake version.

I packed up my things and headed back to the dorm to sleep.

But when I got there, my roommate told me the news. Kenna Quinn was claiming someone plagiarized her.

My body went cold. I opened the app. Sure enough, Kenna had posted a video an hour ago.

It was just a simple photo of a landscape, but the caption made my blood run cold.

"There are no two identical leaves in the world, and there should be no two identical melodies. What is stolen will always be found out. The surprise is delayed; I need to make some changes before posting. Please wait for me."

The comment section was a mess of sympathy and rage.

"What does this mean? Someone stole from Kenna?"

"Who is the piece of shit that dared to copy her? Tell me so I can ruin their life! [fire emoji] [fire emoji]"

"Stay strong, baby. People like that never win! What surprise did you have for us?"

"I bet it's a song. She was playing that beautiful melody yesterday. She's so talented!"

The comments were a sea of praise and comfort for her.

Kenna didn't reply to most of them. She only liked the comment about the song and the one calling out the thief. It was a clear signal.

The news spread through the conservatory like a wildfire.

Everyone followed her. In a music school, plagiarism is the ultimate sin. People were already sharpening their knives.

My roommate was cursing the anonymous thief in the dorm. But slowly, her voice got quieter. She looked at me with a hesitant expression.

"...Lia? Haven't you been writing a new song lately?"

I looked up. All my roommates were staring at me.

They all knew I was working on something. They had heard bits and pieces of it.

I just nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

She sent me a link. I clicked it. Someone was claiming they heard the melody from Kenna's video coming from a practice room. And I was the only one in that wing yesterday.

More comments started popping up. People were "witnessing" things.

"It has to be her, right? Why would a music major spend so much time near the dance studios?"

"I can't believe the school's little genius is a fraud. They should check her entrance exams. She's ruining the school's reputation."

"Maybe it's a coincidence? There are only so many notes."

"Yeah, right. She's probably too scared to post it now. Lia only does covers; she probably can't write for shit."

I scrolled through the hate. I was actually relieved I hadn't posted my song yet. If I had, it would be the "proof" they needed.

But I was curious. Kenna hadn't posted a song yet, and neither had I. How was she predicting my move?

Then, my phone buzzed with a notification.

One minute ago, Kenna posted again.

I clicked it. Kenna looked gorgeous on camera, smiling softly. "Hi everyone. I wanted to give you the surprise yesterday, but something happened..."

She bit her lip, looking heartbroken. "I think every creator goes through this. I didn't know how to handle it, but after thinking about it all night, I decided to face it! The one who should be ashamed is the thief, not the creator."

"So today, I'm sharing my new piece with you!"

Kenna sat at the piano. Her long, slender fingers hit the keys. The music flowed out.

As I listened, my face hardened. My heart started racing for a different reason.

Something was wrong.

How did she have the full, finished version of the song?

I scrambled to my bag and pulled out my laptop.

Since I got back, my bag had been right there. No one had touched it. How did she get my new track?

I wasn't dreaming.

The song Kenna was playing was the exact one I had worked on for twenty-four hours straightDthe version I hadn't even modified yet!

I sat on my bed, staring at the screen with a pale face.

This was impossible.

I wrote this in a private room at night. I was alone. How did she know the score?

Was there a hidden camera?

I ignored my roommates and ran out with my laptop. I went straight to the campus tech shop. I had the technician check my phone and laptop for spyware or mirroring software.

Nothing. There was no surveillance software on my devices.

I ran back to the practice rooms.

My classmate was still there. She looked like she wanted to talk, but I brushed past her.

I searched every inch of the room. No hidden cameras. No recording devices.

I checked the neighboring rooms. Nothing.

I slumped against the wall, feeling a chill deep in my bones.

My classmate tried to ask if I was okay, but I couldn't even hear her.

My mind was a mess of conspiracy theories.

Suddenly, I heard voices in the hallway. I recognized Silas Shaw's voice immediately.

"Kenna, your new song is incredible. Everyone I know is obsessed with it," he said, his voice full of warmth. "Look, it's only been an hour and my phone is blowing up with people asking about you."

"Stop it! You're making me blush," Kenna giggled. "I was just so upset yesterday, and then I suddenly got this burst of inspiration."

"You're amazing. I can't get enough of it."

They walked into the practice room next door, laughing.

A moment later, the piano started. It was my song.

I forced myself up from the floor. My eyes were fixed on the door to their room. I walked over slowly.

They were so into the music they didn't even notice me come in.

I walked right up behind Kenna. She sensed someone and gasped, the music cutting off abruptly.

"Lia! What the hell is wrong with you?" Silas snapped, pushing me back.

I fell to the floor. The sharp pain in my hip actually helped clear my head.

Kenna looked startled, then her expression shifted to fake concern. She helped me up. "Lia? Are you okay? You look terrible."

I forced a smile. "Sorry. I just got lost in the music. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine," Kenna said sweetly. "Don't be mad at Silas. He's just protective of me."

Silas was glaring at me with pure disgust.

I realized then that my childhood friend had completely defected to her side.

I didn't say anything about Silas. I just looked at her sheet music. "Is this your new song? It's beautiful."

Kenna beamed, a flash of triumph in her eyes. "Yeah, people really seem to like it! Want to hear the rest?"

She sat back down and continued to play. Silas looked at her with heart-eyes. Other students started gathering at the door, praising her beauty and talent.

Kenna was soaking up the attention.

I forced myself to watch. My eyes scanned her belongings. Finally, they landed on her laptop.

If there was a trail, it had to be in there.

I waited until she was surrounded by her fans. Then, I quietly reached over and opened her audio production software...