Derek Rio Suárez

Derek is a chipper individual who greets people with a bright smile or an excited wave. He is talkative, always leading the conversation or participating in it. The protagonist notes that it is unusual for him to be quiet. He is eager to make friends and is always full of energy as shown when he tells Cove and the protagonist about Jeremy's presence in Sunset Bird in hopes of making a new friend. He makes an effort to remain friendly even if other people are antagonistic like Jeremy was towards him and his friends.

He is passionate towards the things he wants to do; especially with sports. In "Summerwork", he has a dilemma choosing between football and soccer. Both are viable options for him but he wants to dedicate his time to improving his skills in one of the two.

One thing noted by the characters around him, especially by the adults, is his politeness. Unlike Cove, people around him praise him for his manners. He also tries to offer his help whenever he can. By the end of Step 2, he offered his assistance to the protagonist's moms in preparing for everybody's meal to which they politely declined. He also offers his help to the protagonist in "Summerwork" regarding their assignment and tells the protagonist that he can lend them money if they forgot to bring some in "Mall".

Despite being praised for his manners and even being teased by the protagonist as practically being an adult, he still has interests that the main character can describe as childish. During Step 2, he still enjoys watching movies about dinosaurs and gets excited with ride-on machines. If the protagonist tells him that these are things kids would enjoy, he would either defend them or try to convince the main character to at least try them.