As a 38-year-old English teacher, mother and wife, I would consider myself level-headed, confident, past teenage infatuation and semi-obsession.

That was, until Edward Cullen dazzled his way into my life.

For readers who do not know Edward, he is the vampire boyfriend of Bella Swan, the heroine of the hottest young-adult novel, “;Twilight,”; by Stephanie Meyer. Needless to say, I was among the many waiting anxiously for the movie to open. Because, I freely admit, I have been bitten (excuse the pun) by Edward's romantic fangs. I have only myself to blame for giving into my own Bella-like students, who all devoured Meyer's four-part series.

I'd like to reluctantly thank them for coaxing me toward becoming a “;Twilighter.”;

At first, I was not swayed. I was a connoisseur of literature; I could not possibly be caught reading a teen novel about vampire love. But so many students—OK mostly girls—were reading “;Twilight.”; So many dying (sorry, more vampire cliches) to see the new movie. There must be something to the tale of forbidden and tortured love between the human Bella and the vampire Edward, right?

So I bit. I read it. Demolished the book in a weekend. I was, in the same way that Bella was by Edward, dazzled. I understood my young students' draw to a story of intense first love. A tale of star-crossed love, a modern-day equivalent to the brooding gothic love stories from our sallow English classes. The translucent-skinned Bella, courted and loved by the tortured vampire Edward, who could kiss her as quickly as kill her. But Edward would never kill Bella because he loved her! Yes, dear reader, you may sigh now.

As a woman surrounded by excited and bountiful youth every day, I understood Edward's allure. He was a boy (well, he was technically 107 years old, but what's age when one is in love?) who was fiercely protective of the girl he loved, wanted to be with her every second of the day, wanted to know every detail and facet of her life, and would kill to defend her.

Most people who are closer to my age than Bella's (or Edward's, for that matter) may find Edward a bit on the creepy stalker side, but remember he is also a vampire. So we add him to the list of literary and celluloid lovers like Romeo and Buffy's Angel (and dare we say, Dracula?) and let him have his bloodsucking fault.

So I wish my female students luck in being dazzled by a real boy, one who is not, ahem, a stalker. I hope that they find a boy who wants to love them as intensely as they obviously deserve. I know that as a grown woman, I want all that is true and good for my girls—even as they face the twilight of their youths.