Aria's life in Rosewood was pretty average until the summer before high school started. She found out her dad was having an affair, then one of her best friends went missing. After that, her dad packed the family up and moved them to Iceland, and Aria's whole friend group fell apart. 

Coming back to Rosewood didn't feel like coming home, so much as trying on a dress that didn't quite fit anymore. Her friends had all changed, Ali was dead, and Aria couldn't trust her dad anymore or look her mom in the eye because of the secret he'd made her keep. Then, she and her friends were being stalked or haunted by their dead friend, who was blackmailing them with their darkest secrets to keep them all in line. In the midst of all this, Aria somehow managed to fall in love. . with her high school English teacher. It all felt terribly romantic at the time.

When her parents found out (about Ezra, not A), they immediately called the cops on the teacher and got him arrested, despite Aria begging them to understand. Once he was in jail, the Montgomery family once again packed up their lives in Rosewood, but this time they went to Beacon Hills, California, where Ella's twin sister Claudia had settled down. Of course, it had just been her brother-in-law and nephew for years, now. 

It was nice to get away from all of her drama, but Aria just ended up trading one pile of secrets for another. Only this time, instead of a stalker and an inappropriate relationship, she was keeping her parents from finding out about werewolves.