At Your Own Expense

Bailey emerged from the dark unknown to stand under the harsh gaze of the spotlight. He squinted as he peered out to see how big the crowd was tonight. He was in a small town, and as must be expected, it was small. Internally, he shrugged. What more could you expect?

Amara sat a few rows back and watched her friend appear on stage, take his place behind the microphone and quickly describe himself as a 'single, chubby guy who tells jokes'. Her eyebrows scrunched together as the description played over in her head. But it wasn't playing on a loop for long, because the description, particularly the little word in the very middle came up again. And again. And again. Amara watched in horror as Bailey referred to himself as 'chubby', again and again, and again as he moved through his set. She looked him up and down, and frowned. He was, by no definition of the word, definitely, most certainly not chubby. An eyebrow rose as she thought to herself. But you're just normal.. You're not chubby at all. You're... You're healthy. Besides, why does that have to be your defining charectistic?

The simple answer: It isn't. At least, it shouldn't be. Okay, maybe Bailey wasn't quite as stick skinny as society seems to expect nowadays, but he wasn't the biggest person Amara had seen either. Anyway, what sort of message was it sending to the kids of the world if society expected people to be no wider than one's pinky finger?

After his set was over, Amara stayed in her seat long after everyone else had left. Bailey had left his jacket out on the chair on stage. Surely, he'd come back to collect it. She sat quietly in her seat and waited, her eyes trained on the empty stage.

Amara wasn't sure how much time had passed before Bailey finally re-emerged on stage. She clapped politely at his entrance, a big smile on her face. Bailey jumped at the sound before squinting out to see Amara rising from her seat in the second row. "Amara?"
"Hi Bailey."
"Amara! I can't believe you're here! I haven't seen you in ages!"
"I saw your name on posters and thought it time for a little reunion. But Bailey, I have to ask, why did you keep referring to yourself as 'chubby' tonight? Because you're not, you know. And it shouldn't be your defining factor."
"Aww shucks," said Bailey with a small chuckle, waving his hand in the air as if to swat a fly. "It's a joke."
Amara raised an eyebrow. "At your own expense?"
Bailey simply shrugged. "It's my job to make people laugh, Amara."
"Surely, there's other things you can joke about without getting laughs at your own expense."
"I'm alright, Amara, if that's what you're worried about."
Amara nodded, folding her arms across her chest. "Well, so long as it doesn't bring you down. Just as long as you don't really believe that there's a problem. Because there isn't. You are perfectly healthy, and perfectly fine just as you are."