Sherry is completely terrified of disappointing Claire. She knows she isn't a perfect a child, but she's trying. The other part of her is trying to grow up and detach herself carefully, so she can be her own person. However, considering how much time Sherry spends reading and not socializing, she's fairly sure that Claire wants her to go and be more sociable.

This would work better if she still didn't think that everyone else on the ship had the collective IQ of cream cheese.