If you want to express exponentiation please use the symbol " ^ ": a^2.
(a + b)(a^2 - ab + b^2) is a "special product" that you should learn, even though you can multiply out these two factors using the Distributive Property of Multiplication. Remember this: (a + b)(a^2 - ab + b^2) = a^3 + b^3, which is "the sum of two cubes."
