Meredith Sorenson

"You are in this class to discuss American history, not mine, got it?"

- Meredith

Meredith Sorenson was Byron's student with whom he had an affair. Aria and Alison know about the affair at the start of the show. After Byron's sabbatical, Meredith returns to Rosewood seeking Byron once more. They begin dating again in Season 3 some time after Byron's divorce from Ella, however; when Meredith drugs and then knocks out Aria, Byron dumps her.

Season 1
One day, Aria and Alison discover Aria's father kissing Meredith in a car. Alison pushes Aria to tell her mother, but Aria listens to her father, who forces Aria to keep the affair a secret. Meredith becomes friends with Ella, while Ella thinks Meredith is sweet and kind before she hears the truth. On the day that Aria is ready to reveal the affair to her mother a year later, Ella receives a note already informing her of the affair.

Meredith was Byron's teaching assistant, and she reappears in the Montgomery's life when she seeks out Byron again, ostensibly seeking "a recommendation." She has the audacity to introduce herself to Aria and Ella, smiling all the while. She even befriends an unsuspecting Ella, who resents her own behavior later when she discovers her mistake. Aria is outraged that her father would repeat his mistake, but Byron says that he cannot avoid her, as they work in the same institution.

Meredith_-_in_byron's_office.jpg First Secret
In "The First Secret," Aria visits her father's office at Hollis College. She is about to leave a note for her father, when she sees Meredith lying barefoot on the couch of her father's office, lazily reading a book. Aria is not very suspicious, though she finds the woman's behavior odd. When Byron returns to his office, he expresses his surprise at seeing Meredith there, but acts coolly. Aria attributes Meredith's presence in his office to her father being so cool in the eyes of his students.

In this same episode, the footage of Aria discovering her father's affair is replayed, meaning that the precise date was just before Halloween 2008. When Aria returns home, Byron lets Aria know that he had tried to call her numerous times, obviously trying to prevent Aria from ratting out his affair. He announces that Meredith is dropping his class, implying that their relationship is ending.

Blood Is The New Black
Meredith appears, once again, in the second episode of the season, "Blood Is The New Black", where she goes for a job interview at the same school as the Liars, much to Aria's dismay. It is later revealed that Aria and Alison went back to the office of Byron to try to find evidence about whether Meredith and Byron were still together. An earring is then found, leading Aria to become shocked and upset, and Alison to then suggest they trash the office, and making her father think it was Meredith's work. Alison finds a second earring.

In the present, Aria admits to Byron that it was really her and Alison that trashed his office. This leads to Byron telling Aria to meet up with Meredith and apologize. While Aria and Meredith are talking, Aria hands the earrings to her, explaining that she found them underneath her father's couch cushions in his office. However, Meredith tells Aria that the earrings do not belong to her.

Stolen Kisses
In "Stolen Kisses," Byron tells Aria that Meredith got the teaching job at Rosewood High, which unsettles Aria. This worries Ella as well.

She's Better Now
In "She's Better Now," Meredith appears as the girls new teacher since the last one had a baby. She keeps Aria, along with the girls, after class since Aria had her phone out. Meredith helps out at the marathon race. She goes into the storage shed after getting a message to grab some swag bags. However, when she goes in there someone set a fire. Byron said she was treated for her burn and given some pain meds and sent home. She was offered to stay at Byron's but since she thinks Aria or her friends sent her that message, she didn't think it was good idea.

Mona-Mania
In "Mona-Mania", Meredith is seen watching Aria and Ella through Ella's class room window-door, indicating she thinks Aria told her mom about her involvement with the fire. She confronts Ella about it, but Ella tells her to stop jumping to conclusions. Meredith and Byron have a fight, which becomes physical when he grabs her burnt arm, and she leaves. She reveals to Aria that Byron gave her the page, that was in Aria's room, and that he visited her on the night Ali "died". Meredith tried to talk him out of seeing Ali, but he left. She is last seen helping Aria, since she has the flu, and asks her to keep what she said to her a secret.

Misery Loves Company
In "Misery Loves Company", Meredith is taking care of a sick Aria. She is acting friendly, but is revealed that she has been slipping drugs into Aria's tea and secretly searching for the diary pages. After Aria finds out, with Ali's help through a dream (or was it?), what Meredith is doing to her, she tries to get out of the house. Aria learns Meredith locked her in her room when she tried to leave. She goes back to sleep, holding a piece of a sharp mirror piece for protection, but when she wakes up, Meredith is standing over her with the mirror piece in her hand. When Aria escapes and ends up face to face with her, Meredith knocks her out and places her into the basement. When Emily and Hanna go looking for Aria, Meredith leads them to the basement but locks them in as well. When Byron arrives home, she tells him that Aria knows about him and Ali. She presumably leaves Rosewood, as Byron stated everything in her apartment was gone by the time the police got there.

Book - TV Show Comparision

 * Meredith's character in The Pretty Little Liars book series goes by "Meredith Gates," rather than Meredith Sorenson. For some reason, the television series producers chose to change the character's last name, similar to the shift from Lucas Beattie in the books to Lucas Gottesman on television.
 * After Meredith was introduced on the show, she was not seen again for two whole seasons, then returns after Ella and Byron divorce, while in the books, she gets together with Byron right away and gets pregnant.