The relationship between Tiny Bell and Shay Powers is mainly known as Shiny (Shay/Tiny). Their relationship began during the third season of Degrassi: Next Class, although their friendship developed during the first season.
Friendship History[]
Overview[]
Shay and Tiny began interacting when Shay was placed in Tiny's grade 11 chemistry class as a grade 10. The two began flirting while they were teamed up as lab partners, and Tiny eventually asked her out on a date. Unfortunately, Shay had to decline due to her strict parents, leading Tiny to believe that she was not interested in him. Tiny then started dating Lola Pacini, all the while, still crushing on Shay. Lola, realizing this, ended her relationship with him, and told Shay that she could pursue him. The two began a romantic relationship as of the start of the new school year. Tiny is completely supportive of Shay in every way possible, even going as far as buying her pads and tampons in an effort to cheer her up. He is also proud of everything she accomplishes. The only disagreements in their relationship stem from Shay's jealousy of other girls and her desire to withhold from sexual activity, both disagreements were settled quickly and in a mature humour, showing that the couple has a solid foundation and good communication between them.
Season 1[]
In #BootyCall, Shay and Tiny are stationed next to each other in grade 11 Chemistry. When class ends, Shay tells Tiny how surprised she is of his smarts. Tiny makes playful banter with Shay before she leaves. Lola and Frankie tease Shay about her crush, but Lola informs her that she wouldn't have chance anyway, since Tiny only posts pictures of girls with big butts on his social media. Later, Shay is in the bathroom taking mirror pictures. Frankie finds her there and Shay reveals that Lola's comment got to her. Frankie then takes Shay's phone and photoshops a larger butt in the picture. Shay laughs and sends the picture to Lola, but is then horrified when she posts the photo. Soon, Shay is hanging with Lola and Frankie at Miles' pool party and avoiding Tiny because she thinks he had seen Lola's post of her edited butt picture and would not like her if he saw her natural butt size. When Tiny walks up, Shay jumps in the pool as an attempt to hide her butt from Tiny. Tiny asks Shay if she would be his lab partner, and she agrees.
The next day, Shay is walking into class with her butt noticeably fuller in her jeans. Frankie and Lola happen to walk by and see it, rushing into the room to help her adjust it. Shay admits that she stuffed her pants with cotton banting from her mom's sewing kit. In class, after Frankie and Lola attempt to adjust Shay's pads, Tiny walks into the room and Shay tries her hardest to hide it. When Winston accidentally spills a chemical on Shay's pants, Tiny tells her she needs to take off her pants before the chemicals burn through. The teacher helps Shay with her issue as Shay tells Tiny to turn around and not look. Later in the day, Tiny checks up on Shay and asks if her butt was okay. She tells him not to make fun of her and that she only stuffed her pants because he saw the picture. Tiny tells her that he didn't see it, as he doesn't follow Lola (much to her annoyance), and that he just wanted to see if she was okay. He then grabs her hand and asks her if she still wants to be his lab partner.
In #NotAllMen, Shay is jealous of Tiny and Lola's relationship and doesn't like seeing them make out in the hallway. Lola wants Shay and Frankie to hang out with her and Tiny as a group, and Shay agrees because she doesn't want Lola to know that she still has feelings for Tiny.
Season 2[]
In #ThrowbackThursday, Outside the school, Tiny joins the protest along with Lola and Shay.
Outside the school, Lola, Tiny, Shay and the others are protesting when the cops arrive and tell them to move on or be quiet. Lola says she has another idea. Lola, Tiny and Shay help the others put signs through the room so everyone at the Degrassi Alumni event sees the signs "don't silence your students" and "racism lives here". Tiny and Shay watch as Lola speaks up at the Degrassi Alumni event and tells everyone she lead a protest today because she believed her boyfriend was treated unfairly and that they need to talk about racism.
In #ToMyFutureSelf, Shay tells Lola and Tiny she has to write an apology letter about the protest so she can get into the summer sports program. Lola is angry at Shay but Tiny reckons she did not have to mean the apology its not like anyone will know, Lola calls Tiny "her love" and says Shay will know she lied though. Lola bails and Tiny goes after her.
In #ThatAwkwardMomentWhen, Shay gives Tiny a flyer for a summer science program and he has to write an essay to apply and its due in two days. Tiny doesn't think there's enough time but Shay offers to help him and Tiny smiles at her. Lola arrives and tells Tiny and Shay she almost passed her history test and Lola hugs Tiny but Tiny is in pain, Lola is worried about his stomach still hurting since its been three days. Shay suggests Tiny go to the hospital but Lola thinks he should use a natural remedy. Lola then asks Tiny who he thinks cares about him more, Shay or her, his girlfriend?
At the Dot, Shay is trying to talk to Tiny but he is not feeling well and is baring listening. Shay checks his stomach out and they smile at each other before he screams out in pain. Shay tells Tiny she's taking him to the doctor, without arguments.
At the hospital, Tiny is in a hospital bed and the doctor says its a good thing his girlfriend brought him in, but Tiny replies Shay isn't his girlfriend, she's just a friend. The doctor explains Tiny has appendicitis and he needs surgery but he'll be fine after that and leaves. Shay holds Tiny's hand and Tiny tells her she was right, Lola arrives and hugs Tiny and Shay tells her he has appendicitis. Lola thanks Shay for taking care of Tiny. Lola kisses Tiny and the doctors take Tiny into surgery. Later, Tiny tells Lola he has feelings for Shay.
Season 3[]
In #BreakTheInternet, Shay and Tiny meet up in the parking lot after having not seen each other all summer. They stare at each other until Zig yells out to Tiny to kiss her, Esme drags Zig away while Tiny takes his advice and kisses Shay and they officially start their new relationship.
In #IWokeUpLikeThis, In the school hallway, Shay and Tiny tell Zig their opinion about Esme and him dating her and are unimpressed with Zig getting a blow job from Esme while at school either. As they leave, Tiny puts his arm around Shay.
In #WorstGiftEver, Tiny is excited with Shay's time in gym class and wants a kiss to celebrate, Shay explains she's all sweaty, but Tiny doesn't care and they kiss. Esme points out that Shay got blood on Tiny's pants from her period to the whole class embarrassing her, Shay bails.
In class, Shay attempts to apologize but Tiny stops her before she can and tells her to close her eyes as he got her something, with her eyes closed Shay does apologize and Tiny accepts, Shay opens her eyes to see a box of tampons, Shay is unhappy and wants to know if he's trying to embarrass her, Tiny says he spoke to Esme and Shay gets even more mad at him and Tiny just don't understand what he did wrong, Shay bails to go find a new seat.
In class, Tiny looks unimpressed when Shay puts blood on Esme's seat leading to Shay and Esme fighting in class and Shay getting in trouble.
Tiny cheers for Shay when she wins the cross country race, Tiny approaches Shay and tells her she was amazing, Tiny notices everyone with blood on their legs and Shay tells him its paint and that she was tried of being disgusted by her own body so decided to do something about it. Tiny apologizes again as they hold hands, Esme comments on the paint but Shay doesn't let it bother her, Tiny wants to kiss Shay and Shay grabs him and they kiss.
In #HugeIfTrue, At Frankie's house, Shay invites Tiny over who brings Zig, Esme and Grace with him. Tiny greets Shay but Shay wants to know what the others are doing here?, Tiny says hanging out, Shay says she thought it would be just them, Tiny says not to worry and he's sure they can find some alone time later, Tiny kisses Shay, Shay says sure and sounds great, Tiny puts his arm around Shay before leading her to sit down with him.
Frankie, Jonah, Zig, Esme, Grace, Tiny, Shay, and Lola are all sitting down on sofas and playing "never have I ever". Esme begins by saying never have I ever had sex, Shay notices that Tiny and Lola have, Jonah says never have I ever hooked up in a pool, Shay notices Tiny has, Frankie and Jonah bail upstairs and Esme asks who's next.
Esme says never have I ever wanted to hook up with the person on my right, Esme and Tiny both drink. Shay says never have I ever fooled around with someone I'm not in love with, Esme and Zig both drink and Tiny doesn't but Zig doesn't believe him and Shay questions why. Lola says never have I ditched my best friend for my boyfriend who I stole from her anyway, Lola tells Shay to drink up and since all she wants to do is talk about her boyfriend so lets talk about him. Shay says "never have I ever dated someone when I knew my friend liked him first," Lola reminds Shay she said it was okay, Shay says she just doesn't like it that she's single and she isn't, Lola scoffs at this accusation, Grace thinks they should call it quits but Esme suggests they now play truth or dare. Esme asks Tiny truth or dare and Tiny picks dare, Esme dares Tiny to spend 7 minutes in heaven with Shay, Tiny smiles and says 7 minutes alone with my girl no problem and puts his arm around Shay but Shay says no, Esme says Lola then, Shay and Tiny object but Esme asks Shay whether she trusts Tiny. Zig claims Shay is jealous so Shay says go ahead as its no big deal, Lola agrees and takes Tiny's hand and they leave.
Tiny and Lola come out of the closet and they hug each other, Shay interrupts and asks if they kissed, Tiny says "what?“, while Lola says she would not doing that to Shay, Shay gives her that she wouldn't have done a such thing, Lola is offended by this and leaves. Tiny says that Lola was upset and he hugged her, Shay says she's sorry if she's not enough for him, Tiny is confused, Shay says he drank, while she was siting to his right, Tiny says its not a crime that he wants to hook-up with his girlfriend. Shay realizes he does want sex and says she thought he was different, Tiny asks if she only likes him when he's a prefect science student, Shay says this isn't him, Tiny tells Shay not to tell him who he is before leaving.
In #ThatFeelingWhen, Outside the school, Tiny and Shay have made up and are with Frankie, Tiny is impressed with Frankie's look but Shay is nor. Frankie says Jonah and her haven't talked since and then takes a selfie of her, Shay and Tiny, Frankie says she needs to get Jonah's attention and asks Shay to come over later but Shay says her and Tiny already have plans playing boggle.
Tiny beats Shay in boggle. Frankie see's a photo Jonah took of him having coffee at the Dot and tells them they are going to confront him now, Tiny asks Shay if they are really doing this but Shay says she has learned not to argue and they all bail.
Outside the door at the Dot, Frankie, Shay and Tiny see that Jonah is alone at the Dot but just as they enter so Frankie can say hi, some girl sits down with Jonah. Jonah notices Frankie and tells her she needs to leave, Frankie asks if "she" is the reason he's been avoiding her, Jonah says "she" doesn't have to explain when she starts too but she says they are friends from "Na - Narcotics Anonymous". Frankie is embarrassed and leaves with Tiny and Shay.
Season 4[]
In #Fire, Tiny invites Shay to the seniors' camping trip after Zig invites Esme and Frankie. Lola mentions to Shay that this is more of a "grown-up" camping trip, implying that Tiny may want to have sex during the trip. Before Shay can even mention the camping trip to her mother Tiny has already spoken to her and as he is a "responsible young man" she is given permission to go. Shay brings up the fact that they will be sleeping in one tent together, but Shay's mother still approves. In the woods, Tiny declines Esme's offer of weed brownies because he doesn't want to be messed up for his girl.
As the rest of the seniors start to head to their tents to go to bed, Shay tries to stall because she does not want to be alone in a tent with him, knowing what it will lead to. In the tent, Tiny takes off his shirt and Shay tries to go to sleep to avoid talking about her worries. Tiny, although sex did cross his mind, says he would not do anything if she was not ready. When Tiny inspects a bug bite that Shay had endured, the two continue to talk about her readiness. When Tiny asks her how she feels, she simply replies with "Ready". The two begin to make out but are interrupted when Zig unzips their tent looking for help for Esme, thinking that she was stung by a bee. Tiny and Shay give advice for Esme's anaphylaxis shock, but Shay realizes that Esme did not even inject herself. The next morning, Tiny thinks that they should help with breakfast, but Shay proposes they finish what they had started the past night.
In #GetYouAManThatCanDoBoth, Shay sees different people get asked to prom with a grand promposal and begins to wonder when Tiny will prompose to her. During Tiny and Shay's science class, Shay thinks that he is going to prompose to her, but he was actually helping Jonah prompose to Grace. At the Dot, Shay brings up Jonah's promposal deeming it cool, but Tiny seems disinterested, replying that promposals can be ridiculous and comparing them to a wedding proposal. Tiny explains that they are for people who have got something to prove, to which the two have nothing to prove. Shay believes that Tiny does not want to go to prom as he suggests that they just watch a movie at his house. When she leans in for a goodbye kiss, he stands up and walks away. Shay admits to Frankie that she doesn't think they are going to prom because it is too expensive. Baaz interjects through learning economics: Tiny got the milk for free, ergo he doesn't need to buy the cow. Baaz's statements lead Shay to believe that because they have already had sex and Tiny got what he wanted, he is not needing a big promposal or even bring her to prom.
When Shay goes to confront Tiny, the music playing in the background is raised to which Shay yells that she is trying to have a conversation. Tiny excuses himself from the conversation and begins to dance. On the
walkway above them, Frankie, Lola, and Jonah are all dancing. The dancers behind Tiny walk up the stairs to grab folders from Lola. As Tiny points to them, they open the folders each revealing a word that together asks "Will you go to prom with me?" When Tiny verbally asks Shay, Shay happily agrees and jumps into his arms and is spun around.
In #Obsessed, Shay is seen at the Hollingsworth residence ready for prom. Frankie explains that Tiny will love the dress she is wearing because it shows all of Shay's curves. When they ask Hunter for his opinion, he says he will keep his opinion to himself which makes Shay want to change her dress. Tiny is waiting outside the limo to leave to pick up Shay. When the bomb threat is called off he excitedly exclaims,"Let's go pick up my girl."
In #KThxBye, as seen in the flash forward, Shay sends Tiny off to CalTech presumably still together and strong.
Quotes[]
- Shay: "Uh, you're smart."
Tiny: "You seemed surprised. It's because I'm black... isn't it?"
Shay: "What? No! I, uh, I, I." - #BootyCall
Trivia[]
- They both are shown to have an interest in Chemistry and science.
- When they text 'goodnight' to each other, they reference armadillos (real-life animals are mentioned).
- Shay still had feelings for Tiny, even though he was dating her best friend, Lola.
- They shared their first kiss in #TheseAreMyConfessions.
- They both held a dislike for Esme Song.
- They had sex for the first time in #Fire.
- They are the seventh black couple in the franchise, the first being Lucy/Paul, the second being Lucy/Bronco, the third being B.L.T/Cindy, the fourth being Jimmy/Hazel, the fifth being Liberty/Towerz, and the sixth being Danny/Chantay.
- Tiny gave Shay a necklace in #OMFG for good luck for her volleyball game. She has been seen wearing it in numerous episodes afterwards.