Taylor Swift's “august” is part of a Folklore love triangle involving the boy named James.
In the song's fictional story, the narrator has a brief summer romance with James, who is already connected to Betty. When the summer ends, James returns to Betty, leaving the “august” narrator to mourn a relationship that was never fully hers.
The three perspectives are distributed across “august,” “Cardigan,” and “Betty.” “August” presents the unnamed girl's viewpoint, “Cardigan” follows Betty, and “Betty” gives James's perspective. This structure is why the three tracks are frequently discussed together.
A common mistake is to call the narrator Augustine or Augusta. Swift said she imagined possible names for the character but never gave her a definitive name in the song. James, however, is explicitly identified as the boy at the center of the triangle.