Then she reached Unit 15.
The next morning, the exam had a question: “What would you have done differently in this course?” Elena wrote: I would have trusted my mistakes more.
The first page was easy: Unit 1: “How long have you been studying English?” – “For three years.” She already knew that. She scrolled to Unit 4, then Unit 7. Her eyes devoured the neat, italicized answers. “Should have called.” “Used to live.” “The more you practice, the better you become.”
“I don’t have it,” Elena lied. She did have it. Sort of.
It was a PDF. A blurry, three-generations-deep photocopy of a PDF, sent to her by a former student named Marco on a WhatsApp group called “Interchange 3 Survivors.” The file was named ANSWER_KEY_FINAL_DO_NOT_SHARE.pdf . She had scrolled past it for two weeks, a digital temptation.
Her roommate, a cheerful Brazilian named Lucas, tossed a tennis ball against the wall. “You’re overthinking it. Just check the answer key.”
She got a B+. Lucas got an A-. He had used the answer key. He also still couldn’t order coffee without pointing at the menu.