'Twilight: Eclipse' Opening Night at Northpark Theatre in Dallas

When my little sister begged and pleaded for me to buy advance tickets to watch the midnight screening of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, my first reaction was, "I don't do opening nights. I don't do midnight screenings. And I definitely don't do lovesick triangles between vampires, werewolves, and tongue-tied teenagers."

Was I just out of the loop? Probably. But, a part of me was also curious to be a part of this illustrious craze of vampiric fantasy that has taken a hold of our pop culture world.

So, being the good big sister that I am, I had to give in to the obsession.

Here we were (my little sister, her friend, and I) five hours before midnight, waiting in line at the AMC NorthPark 15 Theatre in Dallas for the midnight screening among squealing girls sporting various articles of clothing displaying Team Edward or Team Jacob. I looked at the winding line in front of us (How early did those loony-bin fanatics get here?) and the infinitely growing mass behind us (Can't people stand in a nice, civilized single-file line?) that wound its way throughout the multi-level mall. Evaluating our place in line, it seemed we'd be able to get a good seat. The managers at the theater were dedicating all 15 cinema screens to the Twilight: Eclipse opening night, and all seats were sold out.

I had to admit, the energy in the air was electrifying. This must be what it was like when groupies and teenage fans waited to see the Beatles. (Was that an old thing to say?) It was amazing the types of fans represented: innocent 7-year olds painted with glitter makeup and "I 'heart' Edward" t-shirts, giddy teenagers huddled in their cliques proudly displaying "Team Jacob" on the rumps of their short-shorts, and middle-aged women clutching their Twilight Saga novels as if they were going to read along as the actors onscreen gave their lines.

Then, there was also the occasional father accompanying his daughter, or the boyfriend who was guilted into taking his eccentric girlfriend (Was that chick wearing vampire teeth?), or even white-makeup-ed guys with too much gel in their hair hoping to pick up some chicks. There were even girls who brought life-sized cardboard cut-outs of Jacob or Edward (Did they have to buy tickets for their 2-D dates, too?)

Before we left the house, I saw that my little sister was bringing her laptop bag with her.

"What are you going to do with that?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes at me and said, "Watch Twilight: New Moon while we wait, duh?" (Do people still say 'duh'?)

At first, I thought she was crazy, but the joke was on me. A majority of the waiting fans were seated in circles around their laptops glued to the screens, watching the previous two installments of the Twilight saga.

As I sat next to my sister, watching Twilight: New Moon to refresh our minds of the adventures of Edward and Bella, I couldn't help but start to get excited. The time was drawing near, and finally the managers began congregating and whispering into their walkie-talkies. It was time! It was time!

The hoards began screaming and getting a bit pushy as people stood up and stretched their achy muscles from waiting so long. As the lines began moving and funneling into the theaters,I couldn't help thinking, "Jacob's pecs will look extra glisteny on the big screen, and Edward's fiery eyes will be a gazillion-times more scorching, too."