One week, one friend

Nate's death came as a surprise to everyone.

Not the fact that he died. People die every day, it just happens. But the way he died, and why he died, that's what came off as the biggest surprise.

It all began when they were still young.

Nate was very similar to Karen in many ways. He also would enjoy following his favorite tv shows and spend all day trying to catch up on the latest episodes so he could chat with Karen on the next day what was it that the two of them enjoyed about it.

It wasn't just that the two of them loved each other's company, it was also that they needed each other's company.

Whenever they tried to share their tastes with anyone around them, they would sometimes, not very often get a few looks of curiosity from people genuinely trying to listen as to why they were so obsessed with the things they liked.

Problem was, Karen and Nate were really bad at explaining themselves. You can't deny they were passionate about their hobbies but they probably couldn't put into words why they liked what they liked even if their lives depended on it.

That was a small consequence of their lack of social interaction. When it came to talking with people that weren't either one of them, they just had no idea how to approach them. God forbid they ever got stuck in a mixer, they would probably drive all the attention towards them for all the wrong reasons.

However, that never proved to be a huge problem as at the end of the day they still had each other's company to enjoy.

Of course, they were fine with the current situation, but their parents couldn't stop worrying about it.

If the situation continued they weren't sure either of the two would be able to survive on their own in the near future.

After all, despite what children were taught at school, it is not the ability to properly do math, geography, or learn all the names of the dead kings from history class that would secure your place in the real world.

The secret to survival is, was, and always will be the ability know how to properly interact with those around you.

Teamwork, communication, patience, observation, these, and many more were the qualities that would prove one was apt to take on a competent role if they ever came across a job that fitted their abilities. Getting work wasn't hard, anyone could get work. Actually making so that they would keep this work and eventually managed to gain access to higher options was the actual issue.

Their parents tried to reinforce that sentiment into their heads the best they could, but it was hard to make someone listen to you when they could not see what the problem was. And of course, they couldn't see the problem, the real danger would only come in the future and the two were living in the present.

They needed to grow up, but they never would if they kept anchoring each other. Thus both fathers and mothers reunited one day and made a proposal to the two at the time younglings.

"One week without interacting with each other?" x 2

Karen was currently twelve years old while Nate was fourteen.

They were reunited at Karen's house and sitting on the kitchen's table and discussing with their parents.

"We felt you two have been relying too much on one another and not trying hard enough to actually learn how to interact with other people."

Said Nate's father, George, with a cold voice. He tried to speak with simple words but Karen was still finding trouble following him.

"Which means... What exactly?"

George looked at Karen's father as if asking if he wanted to explain it to his daughter, but it seemed like he had absolute trust in George's method of handling the situation.

"Karen, you and Nate spend all day together every day right?"

"Y- Yes... Is that bad...?"

"Not at all... Friendship is a virtue and should be treasured, especially nowadays when it's so hard to find true friends..."

"So..."

"But you should know that you won't be able to rely on him for everything, right?"

"..."

"Nate can do many things, and he can do them all really well... But even he has limitations... There will come a day where you two will have a problem that neither will be able to solve... And when the day comes... Who will you rely on?"

Nate tried to argue with his dad despite not looking very brave while doing it.

"W- When that time comes... Can't we just rely on you all?"

"So Nate... Are you planning to live with your parents for the rest of your life?"

"..."

"Let me ask you two one thing... How many friends do you two have besides each other."

Karen was reluctant to answer that question due to not feeling they would like the answer.

"Huh... My class has twenty-seven students right now..."

"I'm not asking how many colleagues you have Karen, I'm asking how many do you consider close to you, how many you can talk to, how many you can rely on when you face a problem."

"..."

Karen could not answer. She barely remembered the names of the people in her class, let alone be able to rely on them during moments of crisis. Most of the other students simply looked at her as if she was some weirdo who wouldn't stop talking about her favorite shows. She wasn't sure how was the situation for Nate, but she assumed it was a similar case.

"That's what I imagined... We want you to know... That we are not angry with you two... Making friends was never easy in the past and it will probably not be easy in the future... People keep finding more and more reasons to stay away from each other every day."

"..."

"But the things is... You two are not even trying... You both keep relying too much on only one person and keep wasting the chance to let other people join your circle."

Karen wasn't sure if she agreed to that. It's true she wasn't popular, but it's not because she wasn't trying. The other kids simply had no desire to approach her for some reason.

"Which is why we will conduct this little experiment."

She honestly didn't want to go on with that conversation but the gazes of her and Nate's parents were making it really hard for her to speak up. She kept feeling she would be in trouble if she showed any sign of disagreement.

"For just one week, we want you two to try and make at least one new friend. Just one."

"... That's all?"

"Making a friend is the most important part but its not all. It will serve to show if you two have what it takes to actually survive among other people n the future."

Karen just could not understand what was so important about the future. Wasn't the future, you know, in the future? Why did they keep talking about it as if it was such a big deal right now?

"What's the other part?"

"You two need to do that by yourselves."

"What!?" x 2

You can't talk to each other, see each other, call each other, text each other, basically, any form of interaction is off the table.

"Why!!??" x 2

"So you can stop holding each other down. When was the last time you two did anything without the other by your side?"

"..."

George noticed the looks on their faces as if someone just told them that Santa Claus didn't exist.

"Don't worry... It's just one week. If this doesn't work we will just try something else."

Karen still wasn't feeling very comfortable with the idea of being separated from Nate. He was the only one who truly understood her and cared about her. If she had to spend a whole week without her, she would probably end up exploding.

"Can you not do it?"

"..."

Karen wanted to reject the idea but Nate proceeded to speak before her.

"Just one week?"

"!!??"

"Correct, just one week."

Karen forgot that George was Nate's father. Even if she could try and speak up against him, there is no way Nate could disobey his father.

"I can do it."

"..."

George looked at her awaiting her answer.

"What about you Karen?"

"... I- I'll try..."

George stood up form the table and gazed upon the two kids.

"Trying is a good start."

And thus, begins Karen's little trial. She had to spend one week without Nate and use it to make a new friend, otherwise, Mr. George would come up with probably an even weirder plan for the two of them.

Of course she had no idea how she was going to do that. Asking her to approach other kids was like asking her dad's favorite soccer team to win the championship. It can happen, but be ready to wait a long time for it.

She was standing outside her classroom and observing all her colleagues inside of it and wondering if any of them could be a good candidate to be her new friend.

"Ugh..."

She tried to think of ways to approach them that wouldn't end in the same old result as before, but nothing would come to her mind. She was completely lost as to how to proceed with this.

The only thing she could think of was trying to find someone who looked just as alone as lost as herself.

She tried to search inside the class and spotted one girl with black hair reading a book by herself.

Karen assumed she might have good chances with this one since she was also a fan of reading fiction.

She tried to approach her and made her best effort to not hold a "Please for the love of God be my friend!!" expression on her face.

"H- Hello... What are you reading?"

The girl looked at Karen and for a moment her eyes widened up when she locked into her wild red hair.

"Huh... It's a history book... We are about to have history class soon so I'm revising the subject..."

And her big plans were already ruined. This girl wasn't reading a work of fiction she was trying to study. Karen started to flare her face with the color red with her embarrassment and was ready to run away from there.

"Do you need help with the history lessons?"

But before she could, the girl gave her an idea that she could use to save the situation.

"Yes!!!!"

"!!??"

"I mean... Yes, please... I would like your help with the lesson..."

"S- Sure... But please don't yell again..."

"OK..."

Karen grabbed a chair and sit next to the black-haired girl.

"I'm Karen... Nice to meet you..."

"... I know... We have been in the same class for the last few months..."

"Oh..."

Karen once again was drenched in embarrassment but the girl seemed to have realized and tried to calm her down.

"Sigh... Nice to meet you... My name is Evlin..."

"Ah!! Nice to meet you Evlin!!"

And that's how Karen's big operation: Make one friend in one week! started.