How do I make friends?

You need to overcome your nervousness when people ask you to hangout, put yourself out there! Its okay to get scared but you dont want to lose your chances of meeting new people. Go out to places like a coffee shop or a concert you may like, and start talking to people im sure youll find someone with the same interests. Its very easy to make friends if you be confident and go out there and talk to people. Do nice things like compliment people or help them with their bags, thatll make it so you can have a conversation with them and maybe you guys could end up being friends. Good luck and dont lose hope.

I'm also 18 and a recent graduate from high school and I was very much so in the same position as you are. If you have anxiety, it's not a bad thing! Try and talk to your friends online and on the computer first, maybe build up some friendships that way. It's a lot easier for people who are anxious to be able to type things out to talk, so you can think and edit the things you say before you say them. Then, after you've gotten to feel comfortable with someone, you can take the next step and maybe hang out in person, in an environment you feel comfortable with. Sometimes you just need a push to just have one moment of "yes I'll hang out with you!" and then walk away from the computer to calm yourself down. It sounds silly, but it's a way to be able to calm yourself down and still get to socialize and make friends. Social anxiety is a thing and counseling is also a thing, but sometimes, it's just an introvert trait, and there's nothing wrong with that!