Nancy Drew and The Hardys go to college

An assignment

Burt and Ned were sitting in the courtyard, doing their Social Science assignment at the last minute.
"Gosh, why didn't you tell me that the deadline is today?!" Ned said, frantically doing his assignment. "Geez, Burt, you're worse than me!"
"I know," Burt said, frantically flipping through his textbooks for answers. "Dave is so mean... he didn't even tell us! And then he just calmly handed it in to the teacher. When did he even do it?"
"I have no idea..." Ned said, looking from his papers for a second. "That idiot..."
"We're beating him up as soon as he sets foot in the dorm," Burt said, to which Ned nodded in agreement. "Right now, we finish this junk..."
Amanda soon came to them.
"Hey guys," Amanda said, joining them with her own assignment. "You guys done with the assignment?"
"Nope," Ned said, shaking his head a little. "We totally forgot about it! That idiot Dave managed to finish it, though..."
"Are you done, though?" Burt asked, eyeing her paperwork.
"Almost," Amanda said. "You guys wanna refer?"
"Sure," the two boys said together.
"Okay wait," Amanda said, taking out her paperwork. "I need to finish it first. I only have one paragraph left."
She quickly finished it and let them take a look. Turns out they were doing it wrong and they had to correct it. It was a good thing Amanda joined them.
"Thanks, Amanda," Ned said gratefully. "We asked Dave if he could let us see his, but to our dismay, he already handed it in yesterday..."
"He's gonna pay for it!" Burt said dramatically. "Anyway, thanks Amanda. You're the best."
Amanda smiled. They started sorting out their stuff and filing them. Ned noticed how someone was leaning against the tree while staring at their phone. It was a willow tree and he was barely noticeable behind the leaves. Ned somehow did since he saw their legs first. Their face wasn't really noticeable but he could see them holding a phone.
They packed up and went for class. They had five minutes left and managed to grab a soda from the vending machine. Max wasn't in this class so he wasn't there. They sat together and Amanda moved into the table in front of them.
"You guys done with the assignment?" Dave asked, grinning.
His two friends just glared at him. He not only finished the assignment behind their back, but he's asking them about it now.
"No," Ned said sarcastically.
Dave laughed at his face mockingly. Ned and Burt exchanged annoyed glances.
"Just you wait, you're gonna pay for it," Burt said calmly. "You're sleeping in the same dorm as us, there's no escape for you."
Dave swallowed a lump in his throat. He knew his friends wouldn't actually do anything that would hurt him, but still, they were creeping him out now.
Their lecturer, Mr James came in.
"So today is the last day for you to hand your assignment in," Mr James said with an evil smirk. "Any later and it's gonna go to the dumpster. Not just any dumpster, the one in the cafeteria where there's stale food that you guys always waste."
Ned, Burt and Amanda got up and went to the front with their assignments.
"Anyone else?" Mr James asked stacking the three assignments he just collected on the table. "Come on, give it to me. Or else it's trash."
The three of them went back to their places, relieved. A few more students handed their assignments in.
"Mr MacGill, what about you?" Mr James asked, crossing his arms. "You do know that you're the only one that hasn't handed it in, right?"
"Uhh...?" Ian said, trying to think of an excuse. "It's almost done. I'll give it to you after class, sir."
"Good," Mr James said. "I expect it to be good, Ian."
Ian nodded.
"Whoa luckily I didn't team up with him for the group project the other day," Burt said, relieved. "If I did, I have no idea what would've become of it. It's a good thing Amanda and I are done with it..."
Amanda turned to them for a second and grinned. She heard what he said and was pleased at being a good teammate. Everyone liked to be her teammates for any group project. That's how she actually met Max.
Their class was over and it was thankfully the last one for the day. They packed up and left the classroom together. They went to their locker and put their stuff away before going off to the cafeteria. They joined the rest at an extended table. Jessica arrived, grinning at them with a tray of spaghetti and meatballs. Chet came behind her with plates and cutlery. People who passed by thought they were sponsoring a party and even asked them about it.
"Nope, I'm just sponsoring my friends," Jessica told whoever who asked.
They started eating together.
"You're gonna get it," Burt kept threatening Dave. "You backstabber!"
"What did I do?" Dave asked, throwing his hands up innocently.
"You finished your assignment behind our backs!" Ned exclaimed. "And then you just handed them in without even telling us!"
"You guys didn't notice how I always spent the night finishing it instead of sleeping with my mouth wide open?" Dave asked, surprised. "You never noticed how I always sat on my desk with headphones to shut off your ugly snoring? Gosh, you guys are worse than I thought!"
"So that's what he's been doing," Burt said, turning to Ned. "This sneaky..."
"It's a good thing I don't have a lecturer that's always giving us stupid assignments like that," Max said, forking a meatball into his mouth. "She always gives us group works though."
"That's just as bad," Burt said. "If you accidentally go and partner up with some tough guy's girl, he might have a grudge on you."
"You're talking about me, aren't you..." Max said, realising. "I'm sorry, okay? Dave talked some sense into me."
Dave looked smug when he said that. Burt rolled his eyes.
"Fine, whatever," Burt said. "Anyway, what's the time?"
"Seven," Nancy said, seeing the time in the watch that her father got for her. "You guys plan to do anything tonight? It's Friday night, too."
"Let's watch a movie together," Ned said. "I heard the theatre room is kinda empty tonight."
They all cheered for it and discussed about the snacks they wanted to buy at the snack bar before going to for the movie.
All of a sudden, they all heard a loud crash. They turned to the source of the noise and saw the back of a man wearing a black hoodie.
A scorpion hoodie.
Everyone turned to look at him. He fell over an empty table with dirty cups and plates. They all fell with a loud clang when the mysterious man crashed into the table. He sprinted off into the night, his hood falling off with the wind.
The detective group all looked at each other.