The Pins

Inel’s mom grabbed their arm before they could open the door to the car. “Wait. Inel, are you sure you want to wear those pronoun pins?” Inels mom asked her. Two pins sat in the corner of Inels shirt. One read: She/They; the other read: It/Its. 

“Yes, mom.” Inel rolled her eyes. “It’ll be fine. Can I please go to school now?” Inel felt their moms hand slide off its arm. It lifted their arm towards the handle and pulled it. She felt a cold breeze hit her face as it stepped out of the car. The pins jingled as Inel stepped. She pushed open the front door to the school. The sounds of kids talking filled their ears. They turned left and walked down the hall to its classroom.

 Inel felt peoples eyes staring at their pins as they walked. She kept her head down, trying to not look anyone in the eyes. It passed some girls and heard them whisper, “Look at those pins,” and “Who would want to be called an object?” Inel started walking a little faster. They walked into her classroom; lots of people were already sitting and talking. She swiftly moved between tables and chairs, making her way to her desk. 

As they started to sit down, four kids came up to them. It was Stacy, Luke, Jeffry, and Milly. “Hey, Inel. What are those  pins on your shirt supposed to be?” Luke asked, seeming to be hiding a smile.

“Oh, those are my pronouns.” Inel lowered its head. The four kids snickered. 

“Wait, so you like to be called an object?” Stacy asked in her shrill voice. The other three laughed. How exactly was this funny?

“No, but those pronouns make me feel comfortable.” Inel didn’t think their head could go any lower. The four kids laughed again. Inel felt trapped. They were all surrounding her; two in front of the desk, and one on either side of her, except for the back. 

“Really now?” Milly asked in feigned interest. “That’s so cool.” She drew out the word cool. Inel wanted to cry. They knew something would happen but they didn’t expect this. 

The teacher then walked in. Inel felt a wave of relief when he called everyone to their seats. As the four people surrounding Inel started to turn, Jeffry hit Inels desk with his fist. It flinched and he smiled. 

Throughout the day, Inel saw the four kids looking at them and laughing behind their hands. She saw them talking to other people and laughing too. Inel was getting really anxious by the time lunch rolled around. The teacher called for the class to quiet down. He stood waiting for the class conversations to quiet. 

“It’s time for lunch everyone!” He practically shouted. A shuffling of chairs and bags soon followed, everyone getting engrossed in their conversations again. Inel sighed as it stood up. Their friend wasn’t here today so she had no one to sit with. She picked up her bag and started to walk to the cafeteria. They walked behind everyone else, listening in on the other peoples conversations. 

The echoing sound that came from the cafeteria made Inel look up. It turned into the lunch line. Looks like we’re eating lunch with 8th graders today. Inel thought, seeing the line full of people taller than her. Inel was in 7th grade. The 8th graders kind of scared Inel. They looked mean and like they would take her head off. 

Inel felt a tap on their shoulder, making them turn. Stacy and Luke were behind them, smiling. Fear glinted in Inel's eyes and it tried to turn back around. Luke grabbed her shoulder and forced them to look at the two kids. Inel glanced around to see if anyone was looking at them or would see. No one was looking; not even the teachers. 

“Hey, we just have one question for you.” Luke said, still smiling. 

“Oh.” Inel stuttered. “What is it?” 

“What kind of object are you?” Luke asked, amusement evident in his voice. Inel stared at him confused.

“Like, are you a lamp, or a couch, or a fridge?” Stacy listed them off on her fingers. 

“I’m not an object.” Inel stated. She was already getting tired of this.

“Yeah, sure.” Luke gripped their shoulder harder. “If you call yourself an it then that means you're an object. That’s what you use to identify an object.” 

He suddenly pushed Inel backwards. They stumbled and almost fell over. “What the!? What was that for!?” Inel gasped, steadying itself. 

“Sorry, the line was moving,” Luke smirked. Inel side-eyed him. She turned around to watch the line but felt a hand on her shoulder again. 

They internally groaned. “What?” They asked, not turning around to face the person. She already knew it was Luke. It felt the hand tighten.

“Turn around,” Stacy said, her voice scarily low. Inel slowly turned around, the hand still on their shoulder. “Hey there.” Stacy smiled. Inel didn’t dare to look at Luke. Inel just stared at the ground. They didn’t know what to do. They glanced around to see if anyone was looking now. Still no one. 

“We just want to ask you a few more questions.” Luke spoke up, letting his hand fall off Inels shoulder. Inel let her shoulder fall with the hand. 

“What are they?” Inel asked in a quiet voice. Her head went down to face the ground. Inel was scared of these questions.

“Well, were you dropped on your head as a baby?” Luke asked. Inel was completely taken aback.

“What?” It stuttered out. “I’m sorry, but what?” They repeated.

“You heard me. Were you dropped on the head as a baby?” Luke repeated. He had a sly smile on his face and the lights cast creepy shadows on his face. Inel looked at his face, a blank expression plastered on it. 

“Why would you think I was dropped on the head as a baby?” Inel asked, still confused as to how he came to that conclusion. 

“Well, no healthy person would willingly want to be an object. Wait, are you being held hostage?” Stacy replied for Luke. She took a step toward Inel and grabbed them by their shoulders. “Blink twice if you're being held hostage.” 

Inel didn’t blink. “I’m not being held hostage and I wasn’t dropped on the head as a baby.” It responded. “Can you please leave me alone?” Inel was starting to get tired of this.

“Aw boo hoo. Are you getting sad?” Stacy mocked. She made a pouting face. 

“I am not.” anger was on the edge of Inels voice. 

Oh, come on.” Luke shrugged. “They’re just some simple questions. No need to get so worked up about it all. He snickered, then reached out to touch the pins sitting on Inels shirt. She swiped at his hand and stepped backward. Her hand went up to cover the pins. A scared look was plastered on her face. 

“Please don’t touch those.” Inel whispered. A piece of their green and black hair fell into their face as they lowered their head. 

“I’m just curious about what they feel like.” Luke leaned forward. 

“Have you never felt a pin before?” Inel asked. It wanted this interaction to end soon. They looked behind them and saw that they needed to move up in line. They turned and started walking forward.

“Hey, don’t turn away after you ask a question.” Luke hurried to keep up with the line and Inel. 

“Yeah, but it was a dumb question.” Inel said over her shoulder. The line kept moving forward. Inel followed it.

“Well, to answer your question, Yes I have felt a pin before but I want to feel a pronoun pin.” Luke said the words' pronoun pin like they were disgusting to say. 

“Can you please leave me alone?” Inel brought its arms over its chest. They let their head fall again. 

Stacy groaned and answered for Luke again. “Fine, I guess.” 

The line kept going forward and Inel followed it, getting their lunch without the two behind her talking to them again. They were able to sit down and eat lunch without being interrogated again. 

Recess came faster than Inel was expecting. Everyone was getting up and taking care of their trash. The kids formed a line at the doors of the lunchroom, talking with their respected friends as they waited for a teacher to dismiss them to recess. Once a teacher did they all practically ran through the hallway, excited about being outdoors. Inel was the only person walking slowly. Nerves were coursing through their body, waiting to see what might happen at recess. 

She walked outside and made her way to the blacktop. Kids were already running around on it, some ran off to the grassy field. Inel started walking toward the field but was suddenly stopped by a small group of people. It was Stacy, Luke, Jeffry, and Milly again. 

“Hey, Inel.” Milly had a sickeningly sweet smile on. “Where are you going?”

“I’m just going down to the field. Is there something wrong with that?” Inel responded, fidgeting with her hands. 

“No, no, there’s nothing wrong with it. We just wanted to ask some more questions.” Jeffry jumped in now.

“Haven’t you guys already asked enough questions?” Inel asked, sensing that they just wanted to make fun of them.

“Well, we’re really curious.” Stacy said, making big eyes. “And we still want to know why on Earth you would want to be an object.”

“Yeah, I thought you were against women being called objects.” Milly stepped toward Inel. 

“Well, yes I am but I’m not calling myself an object. It just makes me feel comfortable.” Inel took a step back.

Luke his hand on Inels shoulder again. “Come on, we know you're just doing this for attention.” He smiled, leaning closer to Inel. 

“Please don’t touch me.” Inel rushed out, fear plastered on its face. 

“Oh, come on. You wanted attention, we’re giving it to you.” Jeffry chimed in again. Inel looked at him then back at Luke. they didn’t know what to do; they were scared. 

Suddenly, a person stood next to the group of people. “Hey, what do you think you're doing?” The person asked, arms crossed in front of their chest. The group of kids looked at the person. They were tall and had short brown hair with purple streaks in it. 

“We were just asking her some questions.” Milly held her hands up, trying to look innocent. 

“Well they look uncomfortable, so maybe you should stop.” The stranger narrowed their eyes. The fours backed away from Inel before turning and running away. Hey, are you ok?” The person turned to Inel, their face taking on a worried look. 

“Um.” was all Inel could say before starting to tear up and running down into the field. The person watched it run away and decided to give them some space before trying to talk.

After about five minutes, the person started to make their way to where Inel ran off too. Inel was sitting in a well shaded corner of the field, Not many people hung out in that corner so it was perfect for when someone wanted to be by themselves.

“Hey,” the stranger said as they approached Inel. Inel had her head buried in her knees, small sobs coming from their throat. The stranger sat down next to Inel and put their hand on its back. Inel lifted her head a bit to look at the kind person.

“Who are you?” They whispered.

The stranger chuckled. “I’m Alex.” They responded with a warm smile. “What’s your name?” 

“I’m Inel.” Inel put her head in her knees.

“That’s a nice name.” Alex looked up at the clouds. “If you’re okay with answering this, why were those kids cornering you?” Alex looked back down at Inel.

“Well,” Inel lifted their head up again. “They were making fun of my pronouns.” She refused to make eye contact with Alex.

“Oh? What are your pronouns?” Alex asked, concern and confusion mixed together.

“She/they/it.” Inel replied quietly.

“Oh. That’s a stupid reason to make fun of someone.” Alex started sympathizing with Inel. “If it makes you feel any better, people used to make fun of my pronouns.” Alex looked down. “Some still do.”

Inel lifted her head more at this. “What pronouns do you use?”

“They/them.” Alex smiled at Inel again.

“Oh. That’s nice.” Inel smiled at Alex.

“Hey, I got a smile.” Alex laughed. “How did your classmates find out about what pronouns you use?” They went back to being serious. 

“Well, it’s because of these stupid pronoun pins I’m wearing.” Inel looked down at its shirt. The pins jingled again with the movement. She reached down and started taking them off.

“Hey, wait, what are you doing?” Alex moved their hand from Inels back to its hands. “Why are you taking them off?”

“Because they’re the reason this is happening.” Inel had a sad look on her face.

“No, just because they don’t like what makes you comfortable, doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be comfortable.” Alex looked Inel right in the eye. “Now put that pin back on and don’t listen to them.”

“But won’t that be hard?” Inel asked, looking down.

“Yes, for a bit, but it’ll be worth it.” Alex smiled.

“Ok then.” Inel smiled as well and put the she already took off back on. The two students walked back towards the blacktop both smiling and laughing, not caring what others were saying about their pronouns.