the scoobies
	Buffy Summers Before she became the Slayer, Buffy was very much the Cordelia of Hemery High School in Los Angeles. Beautiful, popular, and a touch shallow, Buffy grew into her responsibilities as a Slayer, and was forced to grow up quickly, and grow as a person as a result. Her first few days at Sunnydale High, Cordelia was her only friend—Heathers seeking their own kind. However, she was ousted from the Cordettes fairly quickly, due to being freaky, and hanging out with losers like Willow and Xander. When the Master tried to open the Hellmouth beneath the high school library, she was no longer able to deny the vampires, demons, ghosts, and general weirdness of her hometown and Cordelia became a de-facto member of the Scooby Gang. The two competed against one another for Homecoming Queen, as well as briefly for Angel's affections. However, Angel (being Angel) only had eyes for Buffy and barely even registered Cordelia's flirtations. Once Cordy found out Angel was a vampire, she gave up the chase completely. Over time, Buffy learned to tolerate Cordelia, primarily due to her affection for Xander. They banded together when, during Slayerfest '98, Cordelia was mistaken for Faith by the assassins (including Lyle Gorch, who to this day believes Cordy to be Faith). However their relationship has always been and most likely will always be strained. Buffy is jealous of Cordelia for living the life she was forced to leave behind when she became the Slayer, while Cordy is jealous of how everyone around her is so caught up in Buffy's soap opera of a life that she often gets completely shut out and ignored.
	Xander Harris Xander Harris was a founding member of the I Hate Cordelia club, along with Willow and Jesse. The battle lines were drawn between them practically in their infancy, and they constantly sniped at one another all through grammar and high school until they discovered a mutual attraction which lead to them becoming boyfriend and girlfriend for a portion of their junior and senior years of high school. However, when Cordy finds out that Xander is cheating on her with Willow, she won't forgive him and breaks it off. Trying not to let on how badly Xander hurt her, Cordy strives to reclaim her place as the school's reigning Bitch Queen. It's an uphill battle, and she and Xander continue to snipe at one another for the remainder of her time in Sunnydale, but the terrible hurt and pain and anger seems to have faded. Beneath all the posturing and barbs, there is still a genuine fondness. Enough so that Xander keeps her secret when he discovers that Cordelia has lost everything and is forced to work at April Showers in order to pay for a prom dress on layaway. When she comes up short, he surprises her by paying of the remainder of the bill. At the prom, as she dances with Wesley Wyndham-Pryce and Xander tries desperately to flee former demon Anyanka's reminisces of female revenge dreams brought to life during her thousand year, Cordy thanks Xander sincerely.
	Willow Rosenberg Despite a decade of public mocking, Cordelia was not above going to a "loser" like Willow when she needed help of the geek variety; such as help with homework, or setting up equipment at the Bronze. When she was not surrounded by her minions and boyfriends, she could actually be fairly decent to her. However, the humiliation she suffered when she learned that Xander was cheating on her with Willow of all people was so great that any tentative bonds that had been forged between them during her tenure with the Scooby Gang were pretty much severed. However, once the gang graduated from High School, they seem to have put those petty problems aside. While Willow found it beyond unbelievable that Cordy would actually be working (as in menial labour) for Angel after Oz returned from L.A. with the news, by the time Cordy got around to decrypting Wolfram & Harts's files Willow was right there with the knowledge via phone and they seemed to be quite friendly toward one another.
	Rupert Giles Cordelia was never as fiercely attached to Giles as the other Scoobies were. That's not to say they weren't friends— okay, friends is pushing it. But their professional relationship was solid. For his part, Giles sees Cordelia as a bit of a mystery that only upper class Southern California seems capable of producing. While he is initially appalled at his colleague Wesley's interest in Cordelia, he is past caring by the time the Prom rolls around.

The Scooby Gang | The Fang Gang | The Cordettes | La La Land | Boy Slayer