Mr James, the Biology teacher, sauntered into the class. His Essential Biology textbook was under his armpit which was damp with sweat from the afternoon heat.
He walked straight to the board and wrote, 'Adaptation'. He underlined it and faced the students of SS 2 Pearl.
"Good afternoon class."
"Good afternoon sir." All students sat attentively.
Grace was seated at the far end of the classroom, looking at the board. She had a smallish frame, dark, with an oblong face and eyes that seemed to hold much tears
"Can anyone come out and give a brief revision of last week's topic?" He looked right and left. All the students were quiet and sitting still. Immediately, Bose, one of his best students, stood up and cat-walked to the front of the class.
"I can't remember the topic sir. But you said something about a pigment on our skin. I remember you said that the human skin has two pigments that give its colour, Melanin and Carotene.. You also said that light-skinned people had more Carotene in their skin and dark-skinned people, like some of my class-mates, have excess Melanin."
The whole class giggled when she mentioned the phrase "some of my classmates." Some of them turned to where Grace was seated and the giggling continued. She placed her head on the desk, ashamed of her complexion, and tears dropped out of her eyes.
"Why am I so dark? Why can't I be light-skinned like Senami and others?" More tears dropped out of her eyes in pain.