Taylor Swift wrote "august" first among three connected Folklore songs.
The three-song sequence explores a fictional love triangle involving James, Betty, and the unnamed female narrator of "august." The other songs are "Cardigan," from Betty's perspective, and "Betty," from James's perspective.
Swift developed the story through imagined characters rather than presenting the songs as direct autobiographical accounts. In "august," the narrator experiences a summer romance with James, who later reconciles with Betty. The overlapping viewpoints let the album revisit the same emotional situation from different angles.
The sequence is sometimes called a trilogy or love triangle, but it is not a continuous three-part narrative with a formal chapter numbering system. The important factual distinction is that "august" was the first of the three songs Swift wrote.