Finally!

So my addiction to the Twilight Series seems to have slightly abated. After my book club met Friday night, one of my club friends, Jennifer Dunlap, and I hung out at Borders waiting for the midnight release of the last book in the series.

I'd badgered the club into reading the first book in the series for our next book club, so Jen thought midnight was as good a time as any to pick it up. She's a great sport, has been my friend since my FOB days, so it was fun to have her along.

I'm not really one of those people who dress up for events and I was afraid there would be a lot of people in character. It was, after all, a Twilight event. So we get there about 11:30 p.m. and the crowd was young, but not too out of control. The book was to be released precisely at the witching hour. Armed with my friend, sugar-free Red Bull, I was prepared to be upright to at least purchase the book. I'd cleared my Saturday schedule and Jeff had agreed to just let me have the day to read. (I love him.)

I was on the list, so I got a wristband and a numbered place in line, so we just sat down and read while we waited, ignoring the festivities. Every once in a while, there would be a screaming outcry from the girls who were in the contests. It reminded me of when Alison and Jenna scream for the sheer joy of hearing their voices. I shuddered, having forgotten that in a few years they'll be doing that again, but at a larger volume. And probably over boys.

Finally, they tell us we have to line up. Jen sticks with me, even though she was officially 100 people back. We figured if we had to line up, we might as well see if they were really checking numbers.

I was No. 44. No. 45 was a young man deep in the prime of inflamed acne awkwardness. I would have thought he was a sweet kid if he'd had a shred of respect for personal space and if he hadn't been chomping on a wad of gum too big for his mouth. It was a close crowd, and we were trapped. When he was pointed at me, his chomping was about 2-centimeters from my right ear.

I was almost happy when he'd direct his gaze at another person in line and try to engage them in theoretical discussions about what would happen next to the Twilight characters, and if that person was going to the movie and if they liked the cast and if they thought they could possibly wait until the December release date. He'd "heard" a lot about both things and was eager to pass on his knowledge.

Superior being that I was, I chuckled to myself when he was confiding how he'd heard things when actually he was just reciting from the author's Web site. I fell right off my high horse when I realized that if I could tell that he was quoting from the author's Web site, I was, um, kind of an obsessed fan myself.

I've made it a mission in my life to never be one of those people who stalk celebrities or go out of their way to meet them. I make fun of re-enactors. I question the priorities of people who camp out to get tickets to events. I was a Harry Potter fan, and I'd set aside hours to read through them as they came out, but I'd never dress up and wait in line for them like my good friend Joyce did.... I made great fun of her when she'd ended up on the news carrying her little wand. Heck. I still make fun of her for that!

But yeah, while I didn't dress up, I can admit that I've visited the Twilight site a few times. I've watched the movie trailer once or twice. And here I was standing in line at midnight waiting for a book that would be available everywhere the next day. Heavy sigh.

Anyway, the kid rattled on and on and on. He capped it off with asking people if they'd ever heard about J.K. Rowlings. "She's written a few books, too," he said.

I almost asked him if he seriously thought he was telling people about a new author they may not have known about. But then I gave myself a mental shake. He was 13 if he was a day. He was excited. He was having a real discussion about authors, not out shooting cats, stealing virtual (or real) cars or stuck in the bathroom with a sopping sock. "This is a good thing. Let him be!" I gave myself a virtual smack.

Finally, the staff wheeled out carts of the new book and we were able to buy it. Jen got to stick with me and we were out of the store.

I got home at 12:15 or so. Jen left about five minutes later. I sat down with the boo, thinking I could at least get through a few pages before sleep would claim me. At 7:14 a.m. , I closed the book, thrilled with the full scoop on what fate had in store for Bella, Edward and Jacob and smiling at the great plot twists and yes, eager to know what comes next.

For fear of retribution from others who haven't either gotten or finished the book, I'll stop with that.

Except to say that I think so much of the writing that I logged on again to Stephenie Meyer's site to send her an email just expressing how much I'd appreciated her effort. I was really disappointed that there's not a way to do that. I didn't want a reply for God's sake. I just wanted to say thanks. Geeze.

If I was really an obsessed fan, I would have tried harder to reach her. Good for me, I can go back to being normal and superior again now that I've finished the book. Well, as soon as I can stop going back to re-read certain sections...