Xander Harris finds himself torn between his unrequited love for Buffy, his feelings toward his best friend Willow, and his tumultuous romance with Cordelia. Original.

"But I mean, what is it? How do you get it? Who doesn't have it? And who decides who doesn't have it? What is the essence of 'cool'?" Most teens have trouble finding themselves now and then, but when you're living on a hellmouth, "trouble" is an understatement—especially if you're Xander Harris. He has never been very popular, and has never had much luck with women, but he is uniquely Xander. After a Sunnydale High field trip to the zoo, Xander becomes obnoxious and aggressive. Giles thinks it's typical adolescent male behavior, but Buffy knows better. And when he finally scores "cool" points by making the Sunnydale High swim team, he's thrown into the middle of something, well...fishy. Still, once Xander is excluded from the Slayer's most recent anti-apocalyptic campaign, he finds himself battling his own private evil—and saving Sunnydale High from a fate it never imagined. This novel is canon.