The Boyfriend Swap

Chapter One

Molly Cross wasn't happy with her boyfriend, Mark Splicer. He didn't meet her standards. But she had no desire to break his heart, and so she searched for a solution.

The thing she wanted was Edward Cullen. And not Robert Pattinson, either. The actal Edward Cullen, from the book Twilight. Yet she knew that this was foolish thinking.

Until one day when she checked out a book called Inkheart from the local library. In there a man read characters out of a book with his voice. Molly wished she could bring Edward out that way. Oh, and he would love hr far more than he loved Bella Swan!

Apart from the fact that the likelihood that what happened in Inkheart could occur in real life was nada, Molly knew that if it could happen she would have to send someone into the book in Edward's place. However, it wasn't long before she decided that her boyfriend should be the one to make the exchange. That way she wouldn't have to break up with him, and she'd still get her Edward.

So one afternoon Molly had her boyfriend over, and they sat in her room together. When she asked if she could read Twilight aloud, Mark became uneasy. He didn't know about Cornelia Funke's book, of course, but the things that he had heard about Stephenie Meyer's masterpiece were disturbing. But he loved Molly and told her she could do whatever pleased her.

She read him a description of Edward, though she started a few paragraphs back just in case. She did not look up until she felt a cold draft in the room. And there was Edward, with his perfect marble skin, deep blue eyes, and wonderful jet-black hair. Mark was nowhere in sight.

Edward blinked, and looked around wildly. "Where am I?"

"In my bedroom," Molly said stupidly.

He looked at her. "Who are you? The last thing I remember, I was sitting in biology class, and suddenly, poof here I am."

"I'm Molly Cross, Edward. And what is more, I want you to forget about Bella and be my boyfriend."

"Bella? You mean the new girl in school? She's not my girlfriend. Not yet anyway," Edward added, looking down at the ground.

Of course. The description Molly had read occurred before Edward and Bella got together, before she knew he was a vampire.

Edward had walked over to Molly's window and peered out. "That's not Forks. Are we even in Washington?"

"No, this is Vagel, Delaware."

"Delaware!" Edward turned to Molly. "Are you a witch?"

"N-no," Molly said, hurt.

"Well, how did I get all the way across the country in a matter of seconds? I can't have been unconscious, for that never happens to me." He slapped his forehead. "Oops, I wasn't supposed to say that out loud."

"It's all right, Edward."

"Why do you call me by my first name, as if you know me?"

"Because I do know you. You're a character in this book." Molly held out Twilight to him.

He mouthed the words on the back cover, "Of three things I was certain—" This just seemed so weird. He turned to a random page, and spotting his name, read the surrounding paragraphs. Finally, he looked up at Molly. "Wait, wait, wait. Are you saying that I'm a fictional character, and that you somehow got me out of this book?"

"Precisely!" Molly said, beaming at him.

"But…why?"

"Because you're perfect boyfriend material. Why else?"

"So you know I'm a vampire?"

"Yes. Almost every girl in the entire world does. In my world, at least."

"Amazing," Edward said.

"They even made a movie of that book."

"Really? And I am to presume that someone plays…me?"

"Yes. His name's Robert Pattinson. A lot of girls are in love with him, too. But then, they don't have the real Edward Cullen sitting in front of them."

"Do you have the DVD? Could we watch it?"

"Ummm…sure!"

Molly quickly pulled the Twilight DVD out from under her pillow and led Edward to the living room. She slipped it into the player and put on some popcorn, after which they watched the movie together.

Several times during the film, Edward shouted, "Oh come on, I would never do that! Is this a joke?" Each time he did this, Molly just patted his shoulder.

When it was over, Molly kissed Edward on the lips without asking his permission. He pushed her away, which offended her.

"Hey, if I didn't bring you out of the book, you would still be fictional!"

"Molly, I'm not spurning you because I don't want you to kiss me, but to tell you that you need to be careful. If I kiss you too long, well, I might end up drinking your blood. And I definitely don't want to drink you dry." Seeing Molly's pale face, he added, "I'm sure I wouldn't, since I'm accustomed to drinking the blood of large mammals instead of humans. But still, I want to be careful."

"I understand," Molly said. "I just…wasn't thinking."

"Also, I hope I don't offend you when I say, that actress looks nothing like Bella. Nothing at all."

"She doesn't?"

"Nope. First of all, Bella has a streak of auburn in her hair. Secondly, her eyes don't look as vacant as that girl's…you can tell she's always thinking. Too bad I couldn't read her mind. Of course, it's possible that I didn't know her long enough to get the details correct, but I'm completely certain that whats-her-name is not a bit like her."

"Oh." Molly didn't want Edward dwelling on Bella. "I've got a German Shepherd in the backyard," she blurted out. "Would you like to meet him?"

"Certainly," Edward said. Molly led him to the backyard, where a large mastiff was lying in the shade.

"His name's Barry," Molly told Edward.

"Does he play catch?"

"Not anymore. He really is an old dog, you know."

"I see." But Molly failed to see the hungry gleam in Edward's eye…

"