James is the boy involved in the fictional summer romance in Taylor Swift’s “august.”
The song is told from the perspective of an unnamed girl who becomes involved with James during the summer. James is already connected to Betty, and the temporary relationship described in “august” eventually ends when he returns to Betty.
This storyline is part of the fictional love triangle spread across three Folklore songs. “cardigan” presents Betty’s perspective, “betty” presents James’s perspective, and “august” presents the perspective of the unnamed girl. The three songs use different emotional viewpoints rather than describing one straightforward event.
Swift has referred informally to the narrator of “august” as Augusta or Augustine, but those are not the boy’s name. That distinction causes a frequent mix-up: James is the named male character, while the “august” narrator is intentionally unnamed.