The girls feel an uneasy obligation set by their parents and the people of Rosewood to erect a memorial for Alison, further beset by the continuous texts and messages they're all receiving from "A," whoever he/she may be.

Aria's reconciliation with her father is halted by the reappearance of Meredith (Amanda Schull), the student he had an affair with, a secret Aria has harbored from her mother for well over a year. Spencer, frustrated and distracted by the increasingly sour relationship with her mother and sister, decides to steal her sister's old, grade-A paper for school. Jenna's brother Toby, the intended target of the girls' prank that left Jenna blind, reappears at Rosewood High after a mysterious, yearlong absence - leaving the girls to wonder whether he had anything to do with Alison's disappearance, or if he is in fact the omnipresent "A." Emily and Maya's burgeoning friendship, as well as Hanna's pursuit to sleep with her boyfriend Sean, all comes to a head at a big cabin party in the woods, but with mixed results: Emily and Maya steal a kiss in a photo booth, while Hanna, feeling embarrassed and alone after Sean denies her advances in a barn, decides to steal and crash his car.

The girls reconvene in the woods the next day to memorialize Alison in the shed they used to play in, but soon make the shocking discovery of a friendship bracelet Alison was wearing the night she disappeared.