i really need a cough drop. now!

There's always one person in a silent room who won't stop coughing. And by the time you leave the room, you want to murder that person (not really) because they would not stop coughing and their germy fumes were just clouding your brain and veiling it over with a thin netting that makes it impossible to think.

I was that person today.

We're doing state testing, which means every classroom is in a state of complete lockdown. And going to get a drink or getting up to get a tissue earns you a slap on the wrist and some handcuffs around your wrists. Just kidding--but really, you aren't allowed to leave the room. Come 8:06 a.m., the door is shut, the attendance is taped to the door, and you're stuck in there until every last test booklet is collected three hours later.
So I've been afflicted with a pretty stuffy nose, a nasal drip which has caused my nasally singing voice to be five times nasallier, a hacking cough, and a penchant for tissues and Luden's cough drops. All weekend, they've been steady constants in my life. Today was no different. I could not stop coughing. My test instructor (a.k.a. my science teacher) promised me that once everyone is taking the test, they basically zone out and don't notice what's going on around them, but I felt so conspicuous. And germy, too. It was just...oh, it was a bad day.
So I spent the first three hours of my morning taking those tests. They're top-secret, and we're not allowed to discuss the contents. Doesn't that sound funny? I don't know, but it made me giggle. Anyway, there's nothing to do but play cards after the tests. Now all my friends know how to play scat. Also, since there was a fair amount of writing on these tests, my pinky finger hurts so darned much. The side of it is actually raw from rubbing against my paper.