Sentence:  But when some of the squeals had subsided and she had been through one of those sessions that <WSD>are</WSD> so indispensable to the young female - six girls sprawled on one bed , drinking Cokes and giggling - she came back to the kitchen to talk with me a minute . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)