My arms are still bruised from pinches to convince me that I wasn't dreaming.

I actually spoke on the phone with one of the tween-dream stars of Twilight, the I-was-a-teenage-vampire's-girlfriend flick opening Nov. 21 (insert girlish squeals here). And, Taylor Lautner previously played Sharkboy -- SHARKBOY! -- in Robert Rodriguez's 3-D mess, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, the best headache inducer in years.

Made me feel like a 13-year-old girl.

Not really.

Everyone connected with Twilight hopes it'll be a hit. No one more than Lautner, 16, who’ll be busier if Stephenie Meyer's three other novels become Twilight sequels.

Lautner plays Jacob Black, who in Meyer's first book is chiefly a chapter 6 source of exposition. Jacob informs the heroine Bella (Kristen Stewart) that her boyfriend Edward (Robert Pattinson) is a vampire, explaining a Washington state Indian legend. Things pick up for Jacob in New Moon, when his own supernatural quirk sets in, making him leader of a pack of werewolves, with his own crush on Bella.

That's the stuff Lautner hopes he’ll have a chance to perform.

"Jacob’s character definitely becomes really interesting in the following book, so we'll see," Lautner said. "That would be really cool. I've been trying to not think about it too much. There's no confirmation on any sequels. Everyone's waiting for opening weekend to see how (Twilight) does, and make a decision right after that.

"So, tell all the fans to go out and see it five times, minimum."

Sounds like Lautner already has a few fans of his own, judging from this comment:

"One of my friends sent me a (Web) link with a note saying: 'What is this?' " Lautner said. "I clicked and it was women's underwear being sold with my name on it. That was very interesting but I have no idea what it's about. I mean, we have teenage girls (as fans) but I think there are just as many Twilight moms out there. It's crazy."

And possibly statutory.