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School. The bane of every child and teens free time. Filled with homework, dodgeball, and pop quizzes. The first month of school is pretty hard to adjust to when you're a normal kid, but it's even harder if you're a superhero.
Kathy had to juggle both school, and being a member of the Teen Titans which wasn't easy. She couldn't even count how many times she had to finish her homework last minute since she spent most of the day helping out with her team.
Despite all this, she has managed to get pretty good grades in all her classes. The blonde girl would consider that a win. Even still, Kathy knew she wasn't alone in being a powered up teen dealing with school.
Jon Guerra also had to get adjusted to his developing powers, but at least he didn't have to deal with a secret identity. He was actually kind of like a mini celebrity for being the son of you know who.
The two friends at least could take solace in the fact that they had shared experiences. At least that made things a little easier since Jon would always cover for the girl. He even had something special planned as a way of saying "we lived through the first month of this".
It was currently Friday after school. Kathy was currently in a phone call with her teammates while reading a book that she got from the library. The beams of afternoon sunlight shone through as the blonde haired teen was relaxing.
"Look I'm happy your leg has completely healed, but that means you should be careful. I don't think tempting fate is a good idea." Suren remarked as he heard about the ginger's plans of wanting to try something risky with Billy.
"Whatever. I like the risk. Besides, it's not like practicing my balance on top of an abandoned apartment building doesn't sound that dangerous." Colin casually said as he didn't see how serious this was.
Kathy chuckled softly at the back and forth the two boys were in. "I'd say better be safe than sorry. Besides, what if fate decides to break both your legs for the fun of it?" She joked around as she flipped to the next page of her book.
"It's like surviving a stab wound and deciding to juggle swords for fun." Damian remarked as the sound of the streets below Gotham could be heard.
Kathy got a notification from her phone. "Hold on guys. Lemme check something real quick." When she checked it, she saw that it was a text from her father.
"Get ready to leave. The Guerra's are downstairs rn. They want to tell us something real important."
Kathy quickly put her book down when reading the text. "I gotta go guys. Family things are happening. Talk to you guys later." She said as she began to get ready.
"Alright. It was great talking to you today.. See ya." Maya said as she was the first one in the call to leave the call. The other Teen Titan members quickly followed suit as well.
When Kathy was sure that everyone had hung up, she put on her shoes before making it down to the living room.
The Guerra family and Cobb were currently busy talking about adult things that weren't really interesting to a normal teen. When they heard Kathy hearing downstairs, the youngest Guerra quickly turned his head over to her in excitement.
"Hey Kath! We have something really exciting planned for the weekend." Jon excitedly greeted his friend as he motioned her over to sit in the chair next to him.
Kathy's curiosity peaked as she sat down. "What is it? Are we going on a tour of that hideout of the group you're a part of Mr. Guerra?" She asked both of the parents.
The three adults laughed a little after they heard the farfetched question. "Hernan and Lois have decided that we should go camping for the weekend." Cobb explained to his daughter.
"Really?!" Kathy exclaimed in excitement. Yeah it wasn't meeting the Justice League, but a weekend camping trip still sounded like a lot of fun.
"It was actually Jon's idea. I thought about doing just a regular dinner." Hernan admitted as he gently patted the back of his son.
Jon smiled with pride as he got complimented. "We'll be leaving on Saturday afternoon, and come back from camping Sunday morning." He further explained to his friend.
"Great! I'll finish my homework right now." Kathy said before getting up, and sprinting up the stairs. She made sure to thank Mr. And Mrs. Guerra before doing so since she didn't want to be rude.
Cobb smiled as he saw how enthusiastic her daughter was. He continued talking about boring adult stuff while Jon just scrolled through his phone, waiting for the other teen to finish.
As Kathy was busy speeding through her math homework while making sure the answers were correct, she couldn't stop thinking about what would happen tomorrow. She couldn't wait to kick back and relax.
.
When Saturday rolled around, the father and daughter duo spent the afternoon packing for what they needed. It wasn't much since they would only be staying for only one night, but it's better than not packing anything at all.
Once they were done packing, Cobb got a call from Lois about where the families would be camping. The man packed up the car, and made sure to add said location on the gps.
The car ride felt like it lasted forever for Kathy. Not only was the location about an hour away, the anticipation made things even more agonizing for the teen. She had to restrain herself from asking her dad if they were there yet, but it was very tempting to do so.
After the car ride had finally ended, the two arrived at one of many state parks that allowed camping. Cobb saw a very familiar car already parked, and parked right next to the Guerra family.
When Kathy got out of the car, she immediately went over to say hi to the other teen. She saw that he was unpacking, and helped him out even though he could feasibly handle this himself.
"Hey Jon. Can't believe we're finally here." The blonde haired girl greeted as she helped get the folded up tent out of the car trunk.
The hispanic teen waved hello back as he helped Kathy with the tent. "Dad suggested he and I fly over there with mom, but I didn't want you to be at a disadvantage." The teen remarked as he handed the tent to his parents.
Kathy snickered softly as she moved on to unpacking the trunk of her car with her dad. While it took a lot more effort to move everything out since neither of them had super strength, they still got all the gear and stuff out.
Hernan and Cobb looked for a good spot to place the tents at. They soon found a place not too far from the car that was a good place to set up camp.
"Hey honey bunches, mind helping your old man out with this?" Cobb asked his daughter as he was having trouble constructing the tent.
Kathy looked over at the tent pieces as she realized that this was way too complicated for her. "I'll just get Jon. Hey Jon! Do you wanna help out me and dad?" She turned to ask the teen.
Before she could hear an answer like "yes", Jon used his superspeed to construct the tents. With nothing more than a whoosh, both tents were put together in about three seconds.
"Wow! That was so cool! You just did that in a blink of an eye!" Kathy exclaimed to her friend as she tested out the integrity of her tent, which was pretty sturdy.
"It actually took me a while to figure out how to put it together, even if it seemed pretty fast to you." Jon said to the blonde haired teen as he still liked getting compliments from his friend.
"It's fine. No need to humble yourself. It would've taken me fifteen minutes at least to assemble that thing." Cobb said to the youngster as he began to set up the campfire.
Jon nodded before getting a hair ruffle and a compliment from his mom. "You think I should use my heat vision to help Mr. Branden out?" He asked his father as he helped move the cooler for the drinks.
"I think helping them this much might be overkill. Besides, I'm sure they can handle this." Hernan remarked as he was just happy to be spending time with his family.
Kathy began to get situated in her tent as she texted her teammates about what was going on right now. She was enjoying the atmosphere and the company of her friend. The blonde haired girl was ready to just sit back and relax.
.
As night fell on the campsite, the two families gathered around the campfire. Hernan was busy telling one his league stories to Cobb while the teens were busy making some s'mores for themselves.
Kathy was on her third s'more as she was sitting next to the raven haired boy. She eagerly ate confectionery sweet once she finished roasting it by the fire.
As Jon finished his own s'more, he felt a need to get up, and lie down for a little bit. "I'll be heading over to a nearby patch of grass." He told his parents before getting up, and walking off.
Seeing this, Kathy got curious about what her friend was doing. After a few moments of silence, she decides to stand up and follow the other teen to where he was going.
Jon was sitting on the grass as he looked up at the night sky that was filled with shining stars. He didn't seem to mind the fact that his friend was walking towards where he was.
Kathy soon found where her friend was laying at, and stood next to him. "Whatcha doing?" She curiously asked the Hispanic teen.
"Just needed a little time to think to myself. Looking at the stars helps me with that." Jon said to the other teen as he admired the beauty of the sky.
"So, do you mind if I lie down next to you?" Kathy asked as she wanted to make sure her friend was alright with this.
Jon shrugged softly as he didn't see a reason for why she couldn't be next to him. "I don't mind. You can join me if you want." He casually told the blonde haired teen.
Kathy nodded softly as she lay down on the grass next to her friend. She looked up at the stars as well. "So, what's been on your mind?" She questioned the other teen.
"Just about stuff. Nothing too complex." Jon simply remarked as he continued looking at the stars. "Hey Kath, you ever wanna go to space one day?" He curiously asked as he looked for certain constellations.
"I mean I guess. I wanna visit mom sometime in the future. I'm still not sure how I'll get up there though." Kathy explained as she felt entranced by the night sky.
"Dad told me about being Kryptonian and stuff. I'm mainly interested in seeing what else is out there." While saying this, Jon imagined going on some hero adventures in space with aliens and whatnot.
As Kathy began to spot familiar questions, she remembered something. "Oh yeah, how's the hero stuff going?" She eagerly asked the teen lying next to her.
"It's been fun. Sent a couple criminals to jail, and beat up some monsters. Though they aren't nearly as intimidating as the stuff my dad and his group fight, let me tell ya." Jon happily explained to the girl as it felt nice just talking to her about things.
"I bet anything looks less intimidating compared to what the man of steel fights." Kathy remarked and giggled at what was just said. "I've been doing good myself. My team just had to deal with the Fearsome Five breaking out of jail."
Listening to his friend talk about the Teen Titans reminded him that he should really try and meet up with them again. "How have your teammates been recently?" He asked as he was curious about went on with Kathy's other friend group.
"They've been fine. Shazam is confident, Nobody is doing cool tech stuff and helps repair our suits, Suren is doing cool magic stuff, Shadowbird is angsty. So it's all normal." Kathy told the boy as she wished the stars on her farm were as bright as they were now.
Jon listened as he decided to say something that has been on his mind lately. "Do you think I'll ever be as good of a hero as dad is?"
Kathy was caught off guard by such a serious question. "Huh? What makes you say something like that?" She asked as she showed clear confusion about what the question was.
"It's just that hearing about all the incredible stuff he does makes me worry I'll never reach those heights." He began to ramble on to the girl. Even if Jon didn't like how his father sometimes killed when there were no other options, he still felt like he needed to be exactly like Hernan.
In a way, Kathy could understand what her friend was feeling right now. Sometimes you worry about living up to what your parents want you to be, especially if they're not exactly human themselves.
"Look, I know it seems unbelievable, but you don't have to be as good as him. What's wrong with being just good instead of as good as your dad?' Kathy kindly assured her friend.
Jon was surprised by the words of kindness from the blonde teen. "But what if everyone expects me to be just like him? I'm the son of Superman after all." Jon asked as he was still clearly worried about this.
"You don't have to be like him right away. You still have plenty of years left, even more than most adult heroes. Things like this take time." Kathy reassured the raven haired teen as she looked over at where the adults were in the distance.
Listening to his friend saying this made Jon feel a little bit better about everything. "I guess you're right. Sorry about overthinking about things out loud." The teen boy apologized for all this worrying he dumped on the other teen.
"It's alright. Sometimes it's best to spout out your feelings to someone." Kathy told Jon as she decided that she should probably go back to the campsite with the adults soon.
"If you say so. Thanks for listening to me." Jon said as he decided to move on from all these thoughts for now.
After a little while of the two teenagers staring at the stars, they eventually decided that they finished having some quiet time. The two got up from the grass, and made their way back where the adults were.
Kathy greeted her dad as she sat down to listen to another story Hernan was telling everyone. A few minutes passed, and the blonde haired teen decided to call it a night. "You coming into your tent?" She asked the other teen.
"I'm good, Kath. I can stay up a little longer." Jon casually said to the girl as he eagerly listened to the stories from his dad.
While everyone else was busy near the campfire, Kathy entered her tent as she grabbed her phone. As she texted her friends about how she's been, she began to ponder about her own hero work.
"Eh, I'm in no rush. Might as well take things slow for now." The blonde haired girl thought as she put down her phone, and snuggled herself into her sleeping bag.
Kathy got herself snuggled in as she slowly drifted off to sleep. Her last thoughts were of how content she was with how the night had gone, even if she knew it wouldn't last.
.
The sunbeams shone through the tent as the morning birds sang. Kathy yawned softly as she woke up. First thing she did was exit her tent as she waited for everyone else to get up, and admired the nature around her.
The grass was covered in dew, the sun had risen not too long ago, and the gentle breeze could be heard as it moved the leaves on the trees. It was truly serene.
Once everyone else got up and finished having breakfast, they began to put all the camping equipment away in each of the family cars.
"Thanks again for coming to this camping trip with us." Jon happily said to his friend as he was busy putting the folded up tent away in the trunk of his mom's car.
"No problem. Maybe we can do this again sometime." Kathy responded back to the raven haired boy as she helped her father put the cooler in the trunk of his car.
"How about right when Thanksgiving break starts?" Jon eagerly asked the blonde haired teen as he finished packing everything into the trunk.
"Heck yeah!" Kathy exclaimed as she gave the other teen a quick thumbs up before going back to helping her father with packing all their camp stuff away.
Once everything was packed in the trunk, both families said their goodbyes to each other. The Guerra's were the first to start driving back home with the Branden's heading away from the now empty camp area after.
As Cobb drove his way back to their house, Kathy looked out of the back sea car window as she began to reminisce about what had happened. Her attention quickly turned to her phone as she grabbed it when she heard her notification alert go off.
When the girl clicked on the notification, it sent her to the Teen Titans group chat. "Hey Kathy! How have you been right now?" The text from Maya read.
"Omw back home. The camping trip was fun. Maybe we can have our own team camp getaway someday." Kathy texted back into the group chat.
"Meh. I'll consider it." Damian texted back into the chat. He was decently wary of the idea but slightly interested in it.
"Guess that's a yes. Can't wait to see you again. Tell us when you get back home." Suren's words read before Colin sent a thumbs up emoji after the other teen's text.
Kathy was amused at the messages before looking back at the scenery from the window. She let her mind wander as she let her surroundings pass her by.
Man she really needed more breaks like this from school.