- Make your character's strengths and weaknesses complement her friend's. In my novel, my MC has recently moved from South America, and is an excellent fighter. Her friend is from the USA, and he needs to work on his fighting. She teaches him to fight, and he teaches her to fit in as a normal American teenager. They share their skills and knowledge to help each other.
- Give your friends a special brand of showing affection. Some friends show affection by hugging, gossipping, and passing notes; others tease each other to the point that someone reports them for bullying. Some friends have secret handshakes. Others share their favorite books or shows as if they're in a two person fandom cult. Find how your set of friends show affection, so that they feel like real people with real relationships.
- Give your friends reason to trust and like each other. Some characters in fiction were forced into situations where they had to be friends, like Grover, Percy, and Annabeth from the Percy Jackson series, or Katniss and Peeta from the Hunger Games. In these examples, the characters earned each other's trust and respect, through conflict (whether internal or external) that exposes their true character.
- Give the friend a life and opinions. The friend likely has other friends, family, school, work, a history, a love life, etcetera. Show how they live outside of their life as your MC's bestie. Maybe give them their own sublot. Heck, maybe even have them abandon their friend because of a difference of opinion, or because something big came up at home/work/school. (They should usually come back, though.) They can't just be a sidekick. They have to be as real a person as your protagonist.
So these are my tips for creating believable friendships. I hope it helps, and happy writing!
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