My goodness, you've managed to top yourself. Of all the stories you've composed, this possesses some of the best character dynamics I've seen (with one caveat). In particular, the villain, Arisa, really drives the story and conflict in ways where I want to keep turning the page, as a matter of speaking.

I believe I've gotten a sense of the central conflict here, you've managed to tell everything about our main villain without saying anything explicit, which is a rare skill. When (or if) she and Melinda butt heads with each other again, that will reveal much that I've been waiting for.

The relationship between Carmen, Kyle and Samantha came along quite nicely, but this is where the caveat is. I do like how it took a little while for Carmen to get over her vitriol towards the two, and I really like how you portrayed such vitriol. She has all the power in the world over them to enact her vengeance, but it turns out she truly wished for something different. The recent revelation that all her friends were as depraved as she was, even encouraging her bullying (although we saw a bit of that in the first chapter) might explain as much. But, so far, I like how her transformation has been portrayed.

The uhhh, intimacy of their relationship isn't particularly my cup of tea, although that's because I tend to lean towards more ... let's say ... exclusive relationships. I wonder if you're going to play it off as Carmen's so affection-starved that she kind of latched on to the two to compensate, and in the end, she pulls back for a more platonic understanding. Still, it's one minus (for my own tastes mind you) in a sea of pluses)

I have a feeling that there are going to be parallels between Melinda and Arisa's relationship and Carmen and Kyle/Samantha's relationship, but that's because I'm actually George Lucas, and it's like poetry, it rhymes, every stanza every beat and it's so dense. This story of yours has been a very Special Edition (or addition) to your collection.