" Mitch, can you get in here?" Scott cried. Mitch got up from the couch in the front room of the bus. The band was finally on their way home to LA from their tour.
" What's wrong Scottland?" He said.
" Look at all these pimples I have." He whined. He had 3 spots on his forehead and 4 on his left cheek. Mitch frowned at him and touched his face.
" They don't look like pimples and you feel really warm. I think you're sick." He said. He quickly dashed out to the medicine cabinet and grabbed the thermometer. He came back to see Scott scratching his face. Mitch began to connect the symptoms while taking his temperature.
" 101. Do you itch anywhere else?" He asked.
" My stomach, just a little bit." Scott said, continuing to scratch.
" Scott, I think you have chickenpox."
" Yep, definitely chickenpox. He'll be quarantined for about 2 weeks." The doctor said. Scott moaned and lied down on the couch. The doctor wrote a prescription for anti-itch cream.
" If anyone on this bus hasn't had chickenpox, they're going to get it. Raise your hand if you never had it." He said. Kirstie's hand snaked up as she bit her lip. Mitch's hand followed quickly. Kevin's hand was reluctantly raised.
Avi was comfortably confident until Esther elbowed him. " You've never had it."
" You had it. How could I have not had it?"
" I don't know. It just missed you." She said. Avi huffed and raised his hand. Everyone looked around and realized that only the members of the band were raising their hand. They all looked at one another and grimaced.
" Do you have somewhere that you can all stay quarantined together? It's better for you all to stay in one place to contain it." He asked. Mitch and Scott looked at one another.
" We could stay at our house. We have plenty of room." Mitch said. The others gratefully accepted the offer while the doctor wrote the rest of them a prescription as well.
" Call if you get a fever of above 104 or any tender, red skin. Those are signs of a secondary infection." He said, leaving. Everyone sat on the back of the bus with the knowledge that this was going to be a long two weeks.
All of Pentatonix entered Mitch and Scott's house. They had filled their prescriptions and picked up whatever they needed from their houses. Scott went straight to bed, leaving the four in the living room.
" We are all in our twenties and we have to be quarantined for chicken pox." Mitch said. " How did we all miss it?"
" I mean, if anyone was going to give it to me, it would have been you or Scott." Kirstie said.
" I don't know honestly. I don't think any of my siblings had it either." Kevin said.
" Esther definitely had it but it missed me." Avi said. Mitch and Kirstie yawned and decided to go to bed themselves. Mitch helped Kirstie, Kevin, and Avi into the guest rooms and they all fell asleep.
The next morning, Mitch came downstairs to Avi and Kevin eating cereal. He poured himself a bowl and was handed a thermometer.
" We'll be checking our temperatures before every meal and before going to bed. Avi and I are normal." Kevin explained. Mitch checked and he was normal. They continued to eat and chat until Kirstie dragged herself in.
" Kirstie. You look terrible." Mitch cried, handing her the thermometer. She groaned when she read the reading.
"100.5. I'm down." She said, scratching her neck. She froze and looked at Mitch. " Can you check my neck?"
Mitch checked it and made a disapproving noise. She grabbed a fruit bar and went back to bed. The three finished their breakfast and cleaned up. Mitch went to check on Scott.
Scott was tangled up in his sheets. He was sweaty and warmer than yesterday. Mitch shook him awake. Scott sat up and scratched his stomach.
" Scott, you need your medicine. Come to the bathroom." He said. Scott nodded and weakly made his way to the bathroom. Mitch grabbed the cream and followed him. Scott was sitting on the floor with his shirt off. The spots had spread across his stomach and chest, with more on his face. Mitch began to rub the cream. Scott face was painted with relief.
" Mitch, who's sick?" He muttered.
" Kirstie just got sick. Avi, Kevin, and I are still in the clear." He said. Scott nodded and made his way back to bed. " Do you want something to eat?" He shook his head and pulled the covers over him. Mitch turned the lights off and left.
Mitch was the next one to fall victim. As soon as he came to dinner scratching his chest, he knew. Next it was Kevin who woke up feverish. Finally Avi came to lunch pale and shaking, it officially became a sick house. Everyone sat down for soup and began to talk.
" This is the actual worst." Mitch whined. The others nodded.
" The spots are under my beard." Avi complained.
" They are everywhere. I have them inside my ear." Scott moaned. Kirstie nodded and finished her soup.
" I've had no appetite." She said, clearing her bowl. They all dispersed to their own beds.
Scott was tossing and turning when he heard his door open. He looked up to see Mitch in the doorway.
" I'm bored Scott." He said, flopping down dramatically on his bed.
" I have something you could do." Scott said. Mitch perked up at the thought of entertainment. " You could scratch my back."
Mitch frowned. " We can't scratch. It'll make it worse."
" Please Mitch. There is no relief. I'll scratch yours if you scratch mine." Scott leaned over and began to lightly scratch Mitch's back. Mitch shuttered at the relief. " I told you it felt great."
Mitch leaned over and lightly scratched Scott's back. Both were going back and forth, finding this relief better than anything else. They were so involved they didn't hear Kirstie enter.
" Guys you shouldn't be doing that. You'll only make it worse." She scolded.
" Kirs, it's incredible. We scratch light enough to draw out the itch. It's the best relief." Mitch said. She rolled her eyes and approached the bed. Scott began to scratch her back and she felt the relief. She organized them into a circle to scratch each other.
" Should we get Avi and Kevin in on this? It isn't fair if just us get this relief." Kirstie asked. They nodded and moved downstairs. They called Kevin and Avi over and explained what they were going to do. Avi was on board but Kevin was hard to convince.
" We're going to get infection if we scratch." He said.
" We do it light enough to draw out the itch but not hard enough to pop them." Scott said. " My back looks fine." He lifted his shirt up for Kevin to inspect it.
" It doesn't look bad at all." He noted. Scott smirked.
" I'll give you a taste." He said, reaching for Kevin's back. Just the slightest scratch gave him a massive pang of relief. He sighed, giving into Scott's reason. They organized themselves into a circle and began. As much as Kevin's doctor side was against it, it did feel really good.
Everyone froze when they heard the doorbell ring. After quick negotiation, Avi was selected to answer, since he didn't have many spots on his face. He looked out the window to see Esther.
" Geez Avi. You look rough." She said.
" I mean I look better than anyone else to be honest. Are you coming in?" He asked. She nodded. He lead her to the living room to the scratching circle. Avi looked offended that they started again with out him.
" Guys, isn't the first thing they tell you about chickenpox is not to scratch?" She questioned. They all dropped their hands in shame. " That's why I got you guys a few gifts." She reached into her bag and started pulling out different items. " Calamine lotion, oatmeal, and board games. This will keep you guys sane hopefully"
They all thanked her and saw her off. Scott looked at the oatmeal and got confused.
" What do you do with this?" He asked.
" You put in water and bathe in it. It helps with the itching" Kirstie said. Scott wrinkled his nose in disgust.
" That's so gross. Who would do that?" He said.
" We all are going to do this. It'll only benefit us." Kevin said. Scott groaned and pouted.
" I can't believe we still have two more weeks."
After a few more day of lotion and baths, a new symptom of the disease popped up. Cabin fever. Everyone was going stir crazy from the quarantine. No amount of movies, books and board game could get this feeling out. The feelings were getting tense and the first blow up was during a monopoly tournament.
" I win again!" Scott cried. Avi very visibly rolled his eyes.
" You cheated Scott. I definitely watched you reach for more money."
" I did not. You're just mad you didn't win."
" I am not. You're a cheater."
" It's not my fault you're bad at monopoly."
" Guys calm down. Scott, apologize to Avi." Kevin said.
" Why should Scott apologize? Avi is the one randomly accusing him for no reason." Mitch argued.
" Of course you take his side." Kevin retorted.
" What do you mean? I could say it's predictable for you to take Avi's side." Mitch spat back.
" Shut up. Oh my god. It's fucking monopoly and you four are acting like toddlers. Come and get me when you guys grow up." Kirstie yelled storming out of the room. Scott and Avi left quickly after, followed by Kevin and Mitch.
Scott crashed in his bed and took a few deep breathes. He loved his band mates but being in quarantine with them was driving insane. He scratched his stomach and attempted to read his book. He gave up and began to pace.
Avi also crashed in his bed next to Kevin and fumed. He loved this band like a family but he was going crazy. He began to scratch his face. Since no one else in the band had a thick beard, no one understood that the lotion and baths couldn't reach the skin under his beard. Kevin was saying something to him but he was ignoring him. He need to focus on the itch.
After a few hours, everyone had cooled down enough to talk to one another. Every exchanged apologies and began to eat dinner. Avi kept scratching at his beard, Scott scratched his stomach, Mitch was his legs, Kirstie was her neck, and Kevin was his arms. All of them knew they shouldn't be scratching but no one else was on a moral highground. Kevin secretly texted Esther.
Kevin: Please get 5 pairs of mittens and some duct tape ASAP.
Esther: That's not going to go over well
Kevin: You gotta do what you gotta do.
Kevin put his phone away and waited.
" Are you kidding me? I'm not 6 Kevin." Scott whined, as he got mittens duct tape to his hands.
" We're all getting them. I think I can assume none of us want scars or an infection." Kevin said. " There that's everyone" he said. Esther walked in to everyone freshly lotioned and with new mittens and choked back laughter.
" It's not funny Esther. This is the worst thing to ever happen to me." Scott moaned.
" You're right. It's not funny. Just 5 people in their 20's stuck at home with the chicken pox. No humor in that situation." She said. She said goodbye and left. The rest gathered on the couch to watch a movie.
After a few days, the worst thing imaginable happened to the band. They had used so much lotion and oatmeal baths that it had lost effect on the rash. The group were losing their minds. The mittens prevented them from relief and Kevin had taped thick socks to their feet to prevent them from using that to scratch either. Everyone was completely miserable.
" Mitch, please help me get these mittens off." Scott begged.
" You heard Kevin. I don't want any off our gorgeous bodies scarred from this shit." He said.
" You know Mitch, the sassy hand gestures you're trying are really killed by the mittens." Mitch glared at him and went back to his book. He began to pace the room and rub his skin.
" Maybe you should try and get some sleep. At least lie down. You are still sick." Mitch said. Scott sighed and went to the kitchen. He saw Avi there, glumly drinking tea and rubbing his stomach.
" Have you found any way to scratch this?" Avi asked. Scott shook his head and took a sip of water.
" I've been trying to take these off all morning." Scott said. Avi nodded and the two grinned.
Kevin woke up to sounds of grunting coming from the kitchen. Knowing nothing good was happening, he got up to investigate. He walked in to see Avi and Scott biting each other's duct tape off. He sighed, threw his hands up, and came closer.
" I swear, you two are putting more energy into trying to find a way to scratch then actually resting." Kevin said.
" Easy for you to say. Your spots are healing. I just got a new batch on my stomach." Scott
" Yeah and I have a fresh batch on my back." Avi added.
" If you rested, you wouldn't have the issues. Now go to bed." He said. Scott and Avi sighed and marched back to bed.
Finally, after two weeks, everyone's fever broke. The doctor declared them no longer contagious and the quarantine over. Avi, Kevin and Kirstie celebrated finally leaving the house.
" Thank you so much for hosting us." Avi said to Scott and Mitch.
" It was no problem. I'm glad everyone's feeling better." Mitch said. They said their goodbyes and the three departed. Mitch and Scott looked at one another.
" I really hope these last spots heal. I want to get out of the house." Scott said.
" You look hot either way Scottland." Mitch said, entering the house.