How did Skyler become so close to Cord in the first place? Love at first sight. Alicia Avalon captured Skyler's heart on her first day at North Los Angeles High. Unlike Cord, he recognizes Alicia's extreme brilliance in addition to her physical beauty and is somewhat intimidated by her on account of his own lackluster intelligence and complete social ineptitude. Seeing Cord frequently interact with Alicia, he incorrectly assumes that he is her only male friend and decides to muster up the courage to solicit Cord for advice on wooing the brilliant Ms. Avalon. It's been a long time since Skyler really had any friends, so he doesn't see the ill-mannered social pariah or selfish cad that Cord truly is, and is delighted when Cord (after eventually seeing the benefits of the relationship) begins to accept his presence in his airspace... when he feels like it, anyway. And all Skyler has to sacrifice for the sake of the "friendship" is his parents' trust, his originally clean criminal record, and the guarantee that if (or WHEN, he believes) Alicia becomes his girlfriend, Cord can bone her whenever he wants. Because that's what friends are for.