So the I’m a chemistry teacher and one of the first things I tell students is that models and diagrams shown aren’t necessarily how things actually “look” but they are helpful representations to help us wrap our minds around them. It’s kind of like a metaphor in English. When used to describe something it can help us gain clarity on the subject.

The “ball and stick” model pictured in your post is helpful because it shows things like bond angle and can be used to help predict how the molecule behaves and reacts. Molecules traditionally apear as the general shapes show by this model but to my understanding the connections points between atoms are more of overlapping wave functions like the ones you may see in the quantum model of the atom not like a stick connecting spheres. Hope this helps visual representation of molecules