As the invigilator called "Pens down," Marco exhaled a breath he felt he’d been holding for six months. He walked out into the cool afternoon air, hearing a kaleidoscope of languages from his fellow students. They were all in that strange "Upper-Intermediate" limbo—fluent enough to argue about movies, but still terrified of a misplaced preposition.
On the desk sat the Use of English paper—the "FCE," the gatekeeper to his future. To many, "B2" was just a alphanumeric code. To Marco, it was the difference between staying in his small coastal town or taking the junior architect position in London. Cambridge English First - CEFR Level B2 - FCE H...
His mind went blank. Was it "I wish I went"? No, that’s present. "I wish I had gone"? He closed his eyes, visualizing the grammar charts from his well-worn B2 handbook. Past regret... third conditional logic... "I wish I had gone," he muttered, the lead of his pencil scratching firmly against the paper. As the invigilator called "Pens down," Marco exhaled