Given all of the coincidences, we went to a day of Forever Twilight last year. Honestly, none of us could tell there was any sort of event going on except for the banner that was hanging at one end of Forks as we drove in from Port Angeles.

So this year I decided to go up for the 20th to see the town go big for the book. It would also give me some time to research for a brief paper on fandom and their spaces.

Looking at the event information, I found out that Meyer was actually going to be there. This meant the event was going to be huge. As part of the celebration, she was hosting a lottery on her webpage. Winners would be able to attend a book signing and get their picture taken with her. So I thought, “What the Heck? I’ll be there anyway.”

I won a spot, got a book for her to sign, and made the five-hour trek up to Forks, WA.

I guess now is as good a time as any to admit that I have never been able to read the books. Every time I try, I feel physically ill. The same is true for the movies. I made it through the first one in 2022, but only barely.

Anyway, I made the trip.

Driving through town, there was not a huge difference from 2024. I would estimate about a 5-10% uptick in people walking around. The town looked exactly the same. So I headed to the high school to check in. 

The main parking lot was full, but there was side lot parking toward the athletic field. As I walked to the school, the first thing I noticed was the smell of food. I had only seen a couple of people outside as I drove up but there were a few more eating under the covered patio on the end of the building. 

To the far end I could tell they were selling food near those doors to the patio. Closer in was a table selling Spartan shirts. In front of me was the line for check-in. There were only a few people ahead of me and one was a girl that had not won a spot but wanted to be in the signing. They told her 500-600 confirmed people signed-in already so there was no way. To my right was another table that appeared to be selling the 20th Anniversary Edition of Twilight but signage at the event was almost nil. Another small group of people were in the middle waiting outside of the signing area doors.  I got my bracelet, was told to come back at 4:30, used the restroom, and left.

Sitting in my car, I decided to check out the Forever Twilight IG feed to see what else was going on. Seeing Meyer’s physical transformation and the similarity to my appearance was so triggering that I immediately left the event and drove home.