Jeff was itching to use the device but classes started and with his excitement, he found himself more engaged in the lesson than most dreary mornings, when he was fighting to keep his head up. It wasn't until morning break period that he found someone worth messing with. In the small town he was in, each class only had around 100 students, the high school is small. Meaning drama spreads like wildfire, so everyone bends over backwards to keep everything quiet. Very few fights, private feelings are hushed whispers, and exposing a crush or other vulnerability is potentially social death until the end of senior year.
Jeff didn't want to become the center of attention, at least not yet. He didn't need to be the righteous vigilante to meet justice upon the bullies. He didn't want to get too wild changing things with no purpose. Nobody Jeff knew was bad, heck, some of the "jocks" got together to make a console night once a month. Everyone in the school is welcome to join the discord channel and organize games with friends, find extra players, or watch streams. People aren't black and white, pretending there is a cookie cutter that all [social class] are molded in is self deluding, and Jeff realized that. What Jeff really wanted to do was to make something better.
Brad presented himself as Jeff's target. Brad generally led the crowd of students around him. He was a natural charmer, funny, built for the center of attention. He brought energy with him wherever he was. He wasn't intentionally mean or hurtful, Jeff was sure of that, but the things he said... he would make comments about how gay men must have some sort of mental illness because poop is disgusting. (Poop disgusts him, not being gay, but since they go together gay people are gross.) This kid smells like stale cigarettes and that's disgusting. (The kid has no say over what his parents do in their own house.) "Don't be jealous of my muscles, eat more, you should bring a lunch like me." (Oblivious that their family might have money problems.)
Jeff scanned Brad with the emitter, wanting to teach him a lesson so that he could be more compassionate, empathetic, and wasn't so judgy. Jeff worked on it through break, then all through lunch, then all through the rest of the afternoon and into the night, finally calling it quits and going to bed.
Jeff slept poorly, with weird dreams. Taking on responsibility to fix someone else is an enormous pressure. Jeff didn't want to turn Brad into a zombie by controlling him too much, make his influence so benign that it's lost in the chaos of high school life, nor be recognized and be retaliated against...
Jeff groggily walked to class and heard a beep from his backpack. He got to class and snuck a peek at the device, Target found, Transformation complete... Jeff smiled, now all he had to do was wait...