What you think does matter

 Hi, I’m Ellie, and up until last week, I thought my life was totally normal . You know, homework, soccer practice, and sneaking extra snacks before dinner. But then, weird things started happening at my house. And by "weird," I mean alien-level weird . It started with the basement. For the last few weeks, every night at exactly 9:00 PM, a low, buzzing hum vibrated through the house. It wasn’t loud, but it was the kind of sound that makes the hairs on your arms stand up. I asked my mom about it once, and she said, “Oh, it’s just the pipes settling.” Pipes don’t hum like spaceships. Then there was my dad. Last Friday, he spilled a glass of water on his arm, and instead of grabbing a towel like a normal person, he just stared at it. The water rolled off his skin like it was plastic. The strangest thing of all? They were acting too normal. My parents have always been a little quirky—Mom sings made-up songs while she cooks, and Dad loves cheesy puns. But lately, they were acting...