And, for once at a Feminist Club meeting, I had nothing to say. I had nothing to rage about. I was – for the moment – chill.

A festive mood cheered that moldy basement room. Sarah and Sophia were wearing matching Santa hats; Claudia’s Mistletoe Mistress lipgloss left merry stains on her candy-cane mocha cup, and even Robbie Schmidt looked happy as everyone chattered about winter break. I only interrupted to introduce Katie and say, ‘Honestly, I don’t really have any plans or any ideas right now, so … let’s get freaky with these brownies!’

But, as I reached across the table, Sarah/Sophia stopped me.

‘Wait!’ she said, looking around. ‘What happened to Father Hughes? Father Hughes is supposed to be here, right?’

All of us looked at the empty seat at the end of the table.

Katie Casey said politely, ‘Father Hughes?’

‘He was our club advisor,’ Claudia informed her. ‘After Alex killed the first one.’

‘I didn’t kill Sister Georgina!’ I said. ‘She’s just, like, living a peaceful life in a warmer place.’

‘That’s what my dad said about my hedgehog,’ Robbie Schmidt said sadly.

‘Maybe –’ I looked pointedly at Claudia – ‘Father Hughes just decided he could trust me to run the club by myself.’

‘And what do you think made him trust you?’ she asked. ‘The fact that you set the campus on fire?’

I looked across the table at Katie Casey and a brief flash of camaraderie passed between us. ‘Father Hughes and I have come to … an understanding … about the fire,’ I said.

And maybe, I thought, he had actually listened to my suggestion about giving us more freedom. Did I have total control over the Feminist Club now?

Just then, there was a knock at the door. The woman who came in was a stranger to me. She was wearing the green blazer St Mary’s teachers wear when they’re not priests or nuns. But she also looked young and cool: she had an asymmetrical bob.

‘Ms Chan!’ Claudia crowed. Then she turned to us and said, ‘Does everyone know Ms Chan? She’s the new art teacher. And she was my personal advisor on my AMAZING black-and-white self-portrait series.’

‘Hi, everybody,’ the young teacher said. ‘Father Hughes sent me over to check on you guys. I heard you might be looking for a new faculty advisor?’

‘You’re a teacher here?’ I said in surprise. ‘How long have you been at St Mary’s?’

‘This is my first year teaching,’ Ms Chan said. ‘But I was actually in the first co-ed class to graduate from St Mary’s – one of the pioneers! The school was not ready for girls … but we did get to live in the science building and play ping-pong on the lab tables at night.’