[@Laertes] True, she would probably find his over-enthusiastic approach offputting. But maybe that is exactly what she needs to form a friendship. Cause she tends to disappear into her solitude hole sometimes and forgets that keeping up with friends is a thing you do. So if Dante took care of that initial "hey let's be friends" part, maybe they formed a sort of bond. 

I see that Dante is into computer stuff, would he by any chance also be into gaming? Cause if so, I can see Mel and him having the kind of mutual friendship where they meet up once in a while to game and otherwise would meet up online to co-op. She's not a hardcore gamer, given that she didn't have the time with all her tinkering and studying, but she would whip out her PlayStation or Nintendo console at least 3 times week. You can find her playing all sorts of things, examples include Genshin Impact, Life Is Strange, Horizon Zero Dawn (an absolute favorite of hers), Elden Ring, but also things like Hollow Knight, Zelda, Pokemon, and Undertale. She has a wide variety of things she enjoys in that regard but her favorites always seem to be some sort of RPGs. If you think Dante would be a gamer, then I can see them having been friends throughout high school and Dante would probably be the one person Melanie has had contact with the longest after high school, simply because they were gaming together and if they'd played in some online game together, she would ping him when they were both online and co-op.

So their relationship could very well be best friends if they'd stayed in contact. Though I am basing this entire friendship around them both gaming right now. But it would fit Melanie perfectly to have a best friend away in San Fran while she's in Manchester.