Vague Spirituality

"I've got to go," Shawna said. "My mom thinks I only came to say good-bye." "Oh, don't go on that lame vacation with your dad, Shawna," Terilyn, Josie, and Alexis pleaded. "It won't be any fun around here without you." "Don't worry," she said. "I have no intention of getting involved with any guys like we just saw. Besides, I'll be with my dad, remember? Any guy who wants to date me when he's around would have to submit to fingerprinting and a background check."

The girls laughed. "We'll be thinking of you while you're gone," Terilyn said, still smiling. "You do the same, OK?" She glanced over at the other girls, then back at Shawna. "We can stay connected in our thoughts, you know." There was that word emphasis again, something the three girls all seemed to understand but that went right past Shawna. "Sure," she answered. "I'll be thinking of you."

Walking back to her apartment, Shawna frowned. Had she just imagined it, or was there some hidden meaning to the words they had emphasized: wise, mature, guide, connected? She had asked Josie and Alexis what they were doing and why they had not responded when she called them, but their answer was vague—something about meditating—and they had changed the subject before Shawna could pursue it. Somehow Shawna was sure the spiritual experiences Terilyn and the other two referred to had little or nothing to do with what she had been taught in church, but she could not imagine what else they might mean.